I posted an image last week of Maximilian, a Maximilian Sunflower that was sporting a very nice creature. This is the same flower but with a different kind of creature. My best guess (with help from a friend) is that this is a Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum). If you know what this is then please drop me a note and let me know. I captured this image during my bike riding/wildflower photography trip with a friend of mine to Walnut Creek Park in Austin. I generally try to find flowers with insects on them in order to add more dimension to the photo (and give me something else to talk about in my blog post). I got lucky this time with this beautiful Bee.
Identifying insects is very hard. I thought that identifying flowers was difficult! For example, the Sweat Bee genus Lasioglossum is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1,700 species in numerous subgenera worldwide. I thought I had identified this one as a Cuckoo Wasp only to find out that it could not be that because those wasps appear hairless. And clearly, he’s got hairs on his legs. Also, it’s impressive how nature works. Check out the pollen all over his body. He’s certainly fulfilling his role as a pollinator. I thought I would blow up that part of the photo so you can get a better look.
This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark III using my Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens. The camera was set on Aperture Priority mode with the aperture set at f/9, shutter speed at 1/125 and the ISO set at 100. I used a tripod to make sure I had a stable foundation for the photo. All processing was done within Lightroom.
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© 2015 T. Kahler Photography
