<p>What a lovely face.  This bumblebee species has almost entirely disappeared from its West Coast range due to a recent epidemic sweeping through some bumblebee populations.  However, the Rocky Mountain populations still persist and there is hope that the West Coast population will also recover and resume its place as one of the most common bumblebee species in the West.  Note that there are several color variations of this species .... this one is representative of those found in the Rockies.
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Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens,  Twin Macro Flash,  F5.0,  ISO 100,  Shutter Speed 200, link to a .pdf of our set up is located in our profile
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/54563451@N08">USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab</a> from Beltsville, Maryland, USA
2014-01-31 22:34
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/12250840435/">Bombus occidentalis, F, Face, Utah Co., Utah_2014-01-10-15.22.23 ZS PMax</a>