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Blue banded bee. Macrophotograph of the head of a blue banded bee (Amegilla sp.). The long tongue has a brushed tip designed to lap nectar and pollen. Also visible are the mouthparts which create a tube for sucking up nectar when it is plentiful. Photographed by the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab: an organisation dedicated to identifying, cataloguing and monitoring bees and other insect species. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)