Too Cold to Shiver. Heriades truncorum, Large-headed Resin Bee, on Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A cold and wet morning here in Amsterdam. The Hortus was quiet; not even the Bumblebees were out. Rain showers; wind. And then a slow clearing with the Sun attempting to break through the clouds.
Among the first Bees to wake from their lethargy was this Heriades truncorum, Large-headed Resin Bee. On a nice, sunny and dry day you may have noticed these little creatures shaking their abdomens in a wild as it were drunken - pun not intended - frenzy.
Nothing like that this morning. That 'shiver' communicates to the stamens of the tiny flower heads to 'loosen' their pollen, which is then collected on Bee's abdominal hairs. You can see those hairs clearly in the main photo. In the inset (a photo Olymp shot a couple of days ago) you'll see the packed pollen Bee's collected. Meanwhile it's sating on flower's nectar. But this morning it was too chilly and damp for pollen to let loose, and thus no Bee Shiver; but nectarian sustenance continued to be called for.
Too Cold to Shiver. Heriades truncorum, Large-headed Resin Bee, on Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A cold and wet morning here in Amsterdam. The Hortus was quiet; not even the Bumblebees were out. Rain showers; wind. And then a slow clearing with the Sun attempting to break through the clouds.
Among the first Bees to wake from their lethargy was this Heriades truncorum, Large-headed Resin Bee. On a nice, sunny and dry day you may have noticed these little creatures shaking their abdomens in a wild as it were drunken - pun not intended - frenzy.
Nothing like that this morning. That 'shiver' communicates to the stamens of the tiny flower heads to 'loosen' their pollen, which is then collected on Bee's abdominal hairs. You can see those hairs clearly in the main photo. In the inset (a photo Olymp shot a couple of days ago) you'll see the packed pollen Bee's collected. Meanwhile it's sating on flower's nectar. But this morning it was too chilly and damp for pollen to let loose, and thus no Bee Shiver; but nectarian sustenance continued to be called for.