View allAll Photos Tagged Pollination
One of my favourite flowers in the garden to photograph, akebia quintata, this is the white version, see first comment box for the darker version. It is often called the chocolate vine because of its scent which I managed to smell for the first time this year now that the plants are bigger and the flowers more numerous (I have a poor sense of smell) Also for the first time this plant has the larger female flowers so maybe I'll get fruit on both plants later in the year. One needs two versions to get cross pollination and hence fruit.
A honeybee hard at work
I’ve always thought of pollen as only yellow, but in fact, pollen comes in a whole painters' palette—from white to orange, and green to brown and red, even bright blue, fuschia, and purple!
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR VISITS, COMMENTS AND FAVES
THEY ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
Alfalfa Looper Moth
This is a relatively common moth that is a daytime pollinator; however it doesn't often sit still, so I was lucky to find this one posing
The unlikely pollinator. I was surprised to learn that this fly was performing the function of the bees. It must have also meant that the flowers were smelling aweful!
Last in my random posts for now is this lotus flower with a bee preparing to do dive in for its pollination duties. Tomorrow...an altercation between our feathered friends.
Photographed sixteen years ago at what was then Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge which has since been renamed Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge.
The background in the original shot was dark but not this dark. Just enough light to be distracting. So I opted to go full black.
I don't know what kind of a wasp this is; it's not as common as the annoying Yellow Jacket wasps that ruin our picnics. Much as we recoil from wasps, killing them willy-nilly means we are killing off an important pollinator.
A Brazilian Skipper on elephant ear leaf
Photographed at the gardens of Flat Rock, NC, USA
MANY THANKS FOR YOUR VIEWS , COMMENTS AND FAVES
VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
The hoverfly seemed to have staked out this flower. When a green sweat bee came along she seemed strangely wary of the fly. They didn't want to share. They jockeyed for position. The bee snuck a couple sips of nectar before going on her way. The fly's larvae will protect the plant against aphids. The bee might not realize it, but the hoverfly's life cycle protects the food source for both insects. Best leave her alone, and leave her some nectar.
Thank you to everyone who visits, faves, and comments.
I believe this is a sweat or halictid bee. She really knew which flower to pose in, to draw attention to her amazing colour!
~ Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
When you hear a bumble bee,
It may sound like a grumble bee,
But it's just a busy bee...
A busy , fuzzy , buzzing bee!
The bee is an important component of the ecosystem, and we humans, as part of the ecosystem, benefit greatly from what bees do. It would be wise for us to talk to local beekeepers, find out what we can do, patronize those are helping repopulate bee populations, to stop using chemicals in our yards that can harm the bees, and to contact bee removal experts if we feel a hive is too dangerous to remain on our property.
We all need to think a little bit more about those little guys and what we can do or stop doing to make sure they stick around. ; )
Tiny Pollinator
This wasp photograph was taken with a macro lens mounted on 37.5mm extension tubes so is about twice life size
2017_06_03_EOS 7D_1820-Edit_V1
Looking close... on Friday! theme : #Bees
The flower doesn't dream of the bee,
it blossoms and the bee comes.
Thank you everyone for your visits, faves, and kind comments
Pruinose squash bee
Up to 80% of insects co-evolved with plants. This bee only pollinates flowers in the squash/gourd family. Since we had so much rain this year, they are finally able to emerge and pollinate the flowers.
I had always assumed that flower pollination was just carried out by insects (which is of course is true in the UK), but hummingbirds play a major role wherever they are found in the world.
This male Green Hermit Hummingbird is sipping nectar but also collecting/transferiing pollen as he moves from bush to bush. There is quite a collection of it on his bill.
Taken in the highlands of Costa Rica.
Created for The Blind Pig Speakeasy challenge 27 - The Earth's Bounty: www.flickr.com/groups/photopigs/discuss/72157648985867546/
Many of our pollinators are in trouble today, their numbers declining and some threatened with extinction. You can help them by choosing garden plants that support them and particularly by refusing to use neonicotinoids and other chemical pesticides that harm them. Choose to coexist.
"Animal pollinators play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most fruits and vegetables. Most plants require the assistance of pollinators to produce seeds and fruit. About 80% of all flowering plants and over three-quarters of the staple crop plants that feed humankind rely on animal pollinators.
Pollinators visit flowers in search of food, mates, shelter and nest-building materials. The energy that powers pollinator growth, metamorphosis, flight and reproduction comes from sugars in nectar, and the proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals from pollen grains.
The secret bond of the partnership is that neither plant nor pollinator populations can exist in isolation – should one disappear, the other is one generation away from disaster."
From the USDA/ Forest Service website: www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/index.shtml
Photos and textures are my own. All rights reserved. Do not use without explicit permission.
Thanks to all for your visits, comments, awards and favorites! Very much appreciated!!!
Beautiful Pollinators
Amethyst Sunbird (F)
Their curved beaks and brush-tipped tongues are perfectly adapted for sipping nectar from flowers.While nectar is their staple, they also consume small insects like termites and spiders, especially during breeding season to meet protein needs.
Insects are vital pollinators, playing a crucial role in the reproduction of many plants, including those that produce our food. Key insect pollinators include bees (like honeybees and bumblebees), flies, wasps, beetles, butterflies, and moths. These insects transfer pollen between flowers, enabling fertilization and the production of seeds, fruits, and vegetables..
the marmalde fly has located the myrtle bloom
(marmalade flies on a lily flower flic.kr/p/2oQ9LC1 )
the second bloom on the potted myrtle opened today.
earlier in the year this evergreen shrub was very sick and i thought i was going to lose it. it shed all it's leaves and had to be treated with great care. sun, but not too much, shade but not too much, water but in moderation ... i was just hoping it would survive! flic.kr/p/2oCJtpX
update 14th march, 2024 flic.kr/p/2pDg1Dc
marmalade hoverfly (episyrphus balteatus) scottishpollinators.wordpress.com/2020/07/09/marmalade-ho...
how to plant for wildlife on a budget | RSPB nature on your doorstep
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcbxzlVNi60&list=PL6TyuYG9Wmf...
a world without bees
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X1xIIyZw3M
for many years my garden was a shrubbery flic.kr/p/Lhv9ag which i loved. a picket fence covered in an ivy hedge coming down in a storm flic.kr/p/2gnCyih meant that over time changes had to happen flic.kr/p/2mn2x8a i'll be glad when the trellis is covered in honeysuckle and jasmine. that's the plan ...
www.flickr.com/groups/gardening_is_my_hobby/ helpful for ideas. thank you for sharing
life in my garden (plant and animal) www.flickr.com/groups/14805891@N24/ (61)