Hylaeus nelumbonis. The bee likes wetlands and... wetland plants, by implication, love this bee. American lotus (Nelumbo) and water lily were early on noted as hosting this species on its flowers. Side note. I wonder how Robertson (the guy who described the species and whose mission was to document floral use by bees) collected these bees - on at least water lilies, which lie on the surface of the water (Lotus has the good sense to project its flowers above the water). If you try to net a bee on a water lily, everything gets wet and essentially goes under water and you end up with nothing. I know this from first hand experience. When I was trying my hand I had to slowly glide up on a waterlily, wait for a bee to land and crawl inside the waterlily, then grab the whole head of the flower with my hand and throw the everytthing in a net to extract the bee (and not fall out of the canoe by reaching a bit too far). In any case, these bees can be found on a variety of flowers, but always in and around wetlands. It is unclear why this should be. What is it that keeps them next to wetlands if not that they need some of those flowers specifically? Maybe its the pollen of one of the plant groups that is required for its young but it will sip nectar and party with the males on a variety of other flowers. H. ornatus and H. schwarzii do pretty much the same thing (more to the east). A nice tidy research project that could save the world (because you never know what you will discover when you poke around Mother Nature). 14:45, 27 September 2021 (UTC)14:45, 27 September 2021 (UTC){{{{{{0}}}}}}14:45, 27 September 2021 (UTC)14:45, 27 September 2021 (UTC)

All photographs are public domain, feel free to download and use as you wish.

Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

We Are Made One with What We Touch and See

We are resolved into the supreme air, We are made one with what we touch and see, With our heart's blood each crimson sun is fair, With our young lives each spring impassioned tree Flames into green, the wildest beasts that range The moor our kinsmen are, all life is one, and all is change.

       - Oscar Wilde

You can also follow us on Instagram - account = USGSBIML

Want some Useful Links to the Techniques We Use? Well now here you go Citizen:

Best over all technical resource for photo stacking: <a href="http://www.extreme-macro.co.uk" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.extreme-macro.co.uk/</a>

Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/0760347387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488851025&sr=8-1&keywords=bees+up+close" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.amazon.com/Bees-Up-Close-Pollinators-Around-World/dp/...</a>

Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland: <a href="http://bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf" rel="noreferrer nofollow">bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf</a>

Basic USGSBIML set up: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY</a>

USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4</a>

Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections">www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections</a>

PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:

Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques: <a href="https://plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo" rel="noreferrer nofollow">plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU</a>

Excellent Technical Form on Stacking: <a href="http://www.photomacrography.net/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.photomacrography.net/</a>

Contact information: Sam Droege sdroege@usgs.gov

301 497 5840