Flying Pollen
by Cheryl McClure
Title
Flying Pollen
Artist
Cheryl McClure
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
I caught the pollen flying off the flower as this bee took off from the flower. The Black-eyed Susan seemed to be one of the favorites in my garden as I was photographing the bees and butterflies feeding from one plant to the next.
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are amonophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila. There are nearly 20,000 known species of bees in seven to nine recognized families,[1] though many are undescribed and the actual number is probably higher. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, in every habitat on the planet that contains insect-pollinated flowering plants.
Bees are adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen, the former primarily as an energy source and the latter primarily for protein and other nutrients. Most pollen is used as food for larvae.
Bees have a long proboscis (a complex "tongue") that enables them to obtain the nectar from flowers. They have antennae almost universally made up of 13 segments in males and 12 in females, as is typical for the superfamily. Bees all have two pairs of wings, the hind pair being the smaller of the two; in a very few species, one sex or caste has relatively short wings that make flight difficult or impossible, but none are wingless.
The smallest bee is Trigona minima, a stingless bee whose workers are about 2.1 mm (5/64") long. The largest bee in the world is Megachile pluto, aleafcutter bee whose females can attain a length of 39 mm (1.5"). Members of the family Halictidae, or sweat bees, are the most common type of bee in theNorthern Hemisphere, though they are small and often mistaken for wasps or flies.
The best-known bee species is the European honey bee, which, as its name suggests, produces honey, as do a few other types of bee. Human management of this species is known as beekeeping or apiculture.
Bees are the favorite meal of Merops apiaster, the bee-eater bird. Other common predators are kingbirds, mockingbirds, beewolves, and dragonflies.
Rudbeckia hirta, the Black-eyed Susan, with the other common names of: Brown-eyed Susan, Brown Betty, Brown Daisy (Rudbeckia triloba), Gloriosa Daisy, Golden Jerusalem, Poorland Daisy, Yellow Daisy, and Yellow Ox-eye Daisy. It is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is an upright annual(sometimes biennial or perennial) native to most of North America, and is one of a number of plants with the common name Black-eyed Susan with flowers having dark purplish brown centers. Black-eyed Susans can be established, like most other wildflowers, simply by spreading seeds throughout a designated area. They are able to reseed themselves after the first season. The Black-eyed Susan which means “Justice” makes a very nice cut-flower with a vase life up to 10 days.
Uploaded
July 21st, 2012
Statistics
Viewed 834 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/10/2024 at 7:03 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet