Bombus variabilis, m, right, St. Mary's Co, MD_2019-03-23-13.58.16 ZS PMax UDR
Collateral Damage - Bombus variabilis is a bee that parasitizes B. pensylvanicus. Its darn hard to find anymore and it is possible there are no recent records at all (I haven't checked). This is the one and only specimen (from the 70s ) from Maryland. B. pensylvanicus went through a crunch a while back and populations dropped. The actual extent of drop and recovery (or not) is unknown, but they are around enough that they are common in my backyard in Maryland (why? Because it is full of big composites like thistle). So, has B. variabilis to be never seen again? Hard to say since it wasn't common to begin with and may have been (probably) been wacked by the same bad pathogens as its hosts, but then again, many uncommon bees are hiding in plain sight as there are few people looking. So, I am going to put a bet out that this species isn't gone, but am not going to be putting out that much money on it. Photo by Brooke Goggins.
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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:
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
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.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840
Bombus variabilis, m, right, St. Mary's Co, MD_2019-03-23-13.58.16 ZS PMax UDR
Collateral Damage - Bombus variabilis is a bee that parasitizes B. pensylvanicus. Its darn hard to find anymore and it is possible there are no recent records at all (I haven't checked). This is the one and only specimen (from the 70s ) from Maryland. B. pensylvanicus went through a crunch a while back and populations dropped. The actual extent of drop and recovery (or not) is unknown, but they are around enough that they are common in my backyard in Maryland (why? Because it is full of big composites like thistle). So, has B. variabilis to be never seen again? Hard to say since it wasn't common to begin with and may have been (probably) been wacked by the same bad pathogens as its hosts, but then again, many uncommon bees are hiding in plain sight as there are few people looking. So, I am going to put a bet out that this species isn't gone, but am not going to be putting out that much money on it. Photo by Brooke Goggins.
~~~~~~~~~~{{{{{{0}}}}}}~~~~~~~~~~
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:
Free Field Guide to Bee Genera of Maryland:
bio2.elmira.edu/fieldbio/beesofmarylandbookversion1.pdf
Basic USGSBIML set up:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_yvIsucOY
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.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdmx_8zqvN4
Bees of Maryland Organized by Taxa with information on each Genus
www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/collections
PDF of Basic USGSBIML Photography Set Up:
ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/er/md/laurel/Droege/How%20to%20Take%20MacroPhotographs%20of%20Insects%20BIML%20Lab2.pdf
Google Hangout Demonstration of Techniques:
plus.google.com/events/c5569losvskrv2nu606ltof8odo
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c15neFttoU
Excellent Technical Form on Stacking:
Contact information:
Sam Droege
sdroege@usgs.gov
301 497 5840