#augochlorini

Green sweat bee (Augochlorini sp.) on New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). The off season brings great opportunity to go on a safari through my old photos. This one from September of 2014, when I first decided to take pictures of bees. For those with an interest in photography, this was shot with an old Panasonic FZ-50 point and shoot, which after attaching a 2.5x magnifying lens on the front of it and using felt as a diffuser for the built in flash, it was a beautiful macro rig for about $100. Although the camera was frustratingly slow, its small sensor allowed it to take photos with striking depth of field that would be impossible with a DSLR. Achieving deep depth of field can be the greatest challenge to a macro photographer. Note the ability of the camera to capture the entire width of the head and thorax all in one shot.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#augochlorini #greensweatbee #greenbee #symphyotrichumnovaeangliae #newenglandaster #bees #bugs #insects #macro #canonmacro #insects_of_our_world #mat_macro #kings_insects #found_on_flowers #macro_freaks #top_macro #macroclique #tgif_insects #macro_kings #photooftheday #beesofinstagram #pocket_insects #macro_brilliance #macro_perfection #top_macro #macro_highlight #macro_spotlight #electric_macro #igmw_macro

It’s true. Chive blossoms are edible. 🍽 #edibles #edibleblooms #nativebee #augochlorini ?#canoneos #aperturepriority #lenswideopenphotography

Temnosoma, Unknown Metallic Cuckoo Bee, collected in Argentina. A metallic green bee similar to many metallic green bees in the Sweat Bee family Halictiadae, but if you were to look at one under the microscope you would find that the female has no pollen collecting hairs and thus would probably conclude that it is a bee but one that does not collect pollen and therefore it must be a nest parasite and you would be right. These bees lay their eggs in the nests of close relatives. Something else you would notice would be the large number of craters on the surface of this bee’s exoskeleton – these doubtless help trap any sharp sting or mandible tip of a host bee that the cuckoo discovers while attempting to do its darstadly deeds. This group of 7 species occurs from the United States down to Argentina.