Apologies for the poor pictures, but here's a little bee-mimicking robber fly, after and before catching a tiny bee for dinner. I followed this wily hunter around for quite a while, and he wasn't pleased with my interference so he didn't let me get very close.
A beautiful crane fly, hanging inside a sunlit bush. (This is who I was trying to photograph when I took the picture of the syrphid fly I posted yesterday. I recommend sticking your head under a bush occasionally. There's a whole other world in there.)
@twizzt
TIL!
"Weaver ants are attracted to the sugary secretions produced by caterpillars, which they use as a food source. In return, the caterpillars are protected by the ants, who defend them from predators and parasitoids. This relationship is particularly common among lycaenid butterflies, which have evolved specialized body parts, such as dew patches and nectar glands, to attract ants. Some caterpillars even have thick plates at their heads to protect them from ant aggression..."
@chris_hayes there's one lyceanid that has turned the tables though. It lives inside ant nests and feeds on the ant eggs and larvae. It is armored and well defended so the ants basically let it do its things. After it pupates, as an adult, it is more vulnerable but as a defense it has massive amounts of large scales which gum up any attacking ants jaws giving it time to escape. Imagine, a carnivorous caterpillar.
The reproduction by cross-pollination of many species depends on wild bees. With them, the survival of certain species of animals is also threatened (such as certain birds, butterflies, bumblebees...).
The bee collects pollen and nectar from the flower. Some of this nectar (which is located on the stamen) gets stuck to the bee's hairs during transport to another flower. When she lands on the other flower, this nectar is deposited on the stigma, or pistil (female reproductive organs). It is thanks to this that fertilization is possible, and that seeds can develop.
Unfortunately, the number of pollinators is decreasing more and more, especially in industrialized countries. And yet, there are 45% more hives worldwide in the last 50 years. But too many pesticides, plants rich in nectar that are becoming increasingly rare, especially in urban areas, and many other factors contribute to the decline of pollinator species year after year.