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Posts Tagged: pollinia
Milkweed: A Honey Bee's Floral Trap
It is not a "pretty sight," as Ernest Hemingway might have said, to see a honey bee stuck like glue--nature's "gorilla glue?"-in the reproductive chamber of a milkweed. It's a trap, a floral trap. If you've never seen this, this is how it works:...
A honey bee stuck in milkweed pollinia. This plant is the narrowleaf milkweed,Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee struggles to free herself from the sticky nectar trough of a milkweed plant, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Almost free! A honey bee works to free herself from the sticky nectar trough of a milkweed plant, Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Death trap: This bee couldn't free herself from the sticky milkweed blossom of a Asclepias fascicularis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Pollinia: Like Having Gum on Your Shoes
If you've ever stepped in sticky gum, it's similar to what happens when an insect steps into milkweed pollinia. Take the wasps visiting the tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) on Thursday morning, July 16 in the UC Davis Arboretum and...
This wasp, a species of Podalonia, flies off a tropical milkweed at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden with a load of pollinia, a packet of sticky golden pollen grains. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Podalonia wasp nectars on tropical milkweed at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A wasp foraging upside down on tropical milkweed at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Off to another tropical milkweed--and off packing pollinia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Note the gold, wishboned-shaped pollinia on the honey bee's feet as she heads for more showy milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Saga of the Milkweed, Bee and Caterpillar
So here's this tattered old worker bee seeking some nectar from the broadleaf milkweed, Asclepias speciosa. She looks as if she's not only been around the block a few times but around the county several dozen times. Her wings look too ragged to support...
A tattered honey bee seeking nectar from a milkweed blossom encounters a monarch caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Well, hello, there!" The antennae of the bee and monarch caterpillar touch. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee gets stuck in the sticky pollinia of the milkweed as a monarch caterpillar keeps munching away. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee carries the sticky winged pollen on her leg as she buzzes off. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
To Kill a Honey Bee
How times change with the advancement of knowledge. It's long been known that when honey bees—as well as other insects—get trapped in the milkweed's pollinia, or sticky mass of pollen, many perish when they are unable to free themselves. So...
Honey bee (at right) perished when her foot got caught in the pollinia and she was unable to free herself. At left is a foraging bee. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee flies off with pollinia on her leg. She returned to gather more nectar from the milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sharing the Bounty with the Bees
Move over, monarchs. Bees--and other pollinators--gravitate toward the enticing aroma of the milkweed, too. The milkweed is widely known as the larval host plant of the monarch butterflies--and a nectar source for the adults--but they have to...
A male leafcutter bee, Megachile sp., in flight, heading toward the milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male leafcutter bee, Megachile sp., sips nectar from a milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, a green-eyed blond, sipping nectar from the milkweed.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, sipping nectar from the milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee leaving with pollinia (pollen structure) from the milkweed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
