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Image details
Artist keithspangle
Image title Bee on the Sweet Pea
Uploaded 06-21-2010, 01:57:10
Comments 6
Favorites 1
Views 239
Dimensions 4000 x 3000
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Bee on the Sweet Pea By keithspangle
Image © copyright keithspangle. Unauthorized reproduction of this work is in violation of our terms of use and the law.
Image © copyright keithspangle. Unauthorized reproduction of this work is in violation of our terms of use and the law.
Artist comments
Description:
A bee struggles to gain access to the blossom.
Media:
Photography
A bee struggles to gain access to the blossom.
Media:
Photography
User comments
Many flowers have complicated structures which allow them to be pollinated by only one type of insect. The sweet pea is an excellent example. Its flower structure allows only the bee to enter because other insects do not have the correct size or mass. The petals of the sweet pea flower are not all alike. There is a large petal at the top, called the standard, and two side ("wing') petals. At the bottom of the flower there are two petals joined together to form a boat shape, called the keel.
It is inside the keel petal that the stamens, stigma and style are to be found. The nectar is stored just over the filaments of the anthers. When the bee enters the flower, its mass pulls down the keel and the anthers or the stigma move up and touch the underside of the bee's body. In this way the bee gains access to the nectar and also carries the pollen from one sweet pea flower to another.
Alexa on June 21st, 2010 at 4:16:27 PMReply
awwwwAlexa on June 21st, 2010 at 5:56:33 PMReply
great detail full-viewed!Katie on June 22nd, 2010 at 1:14:11 PMReply
ooh! do you know what kind of flower that is? i'm trying to think of an adaptive reason why a bee would have to struggle to get into a flower - either the flower wants to trap the bee INSIDE for longer, so it gets more pollen on it, or it's a flower not normally pollinated by bees...hmmmm....keithspangle on June 22nd, 2010 at 2:33:35 PMReply
It's a sweet pea. The bees don't seem to mind the extra effort: they prefer these to other flowers around the yard. The sweet peas seem to benefit too...the plant is quite healthy. So I guess everyone is benefitting .Katie on June 22nd, 2010 at 10:48:07 PMReply
Aha! it's like a special mechanical-type structure that only allows bees to pollinate it. SO COOL! Here is the explanation I found:Many flowers have complicated structures which allow them to be pollinated by only one type of insect. The sweet pea is an excellent example. Its flower structure allows only the bee to enter because other insects do not have the correct size or mass. The petals of the sweet pea flower are not all alike. There is a large petal at the top, called the standard, and two side ("wing') petals. At the bottom of the flower there are two petals joined together to form a boat shape, called the keel.
It is inside the keel petal that the stamens, stigma and style are to be found. The nectar is stored just over the filaments of the anthers. When the bee enters the flower, its mass pulls down the keel and the anthers or the stigma move up and touch the underside of the bee's body. In this way the bee gains access to the nectar and also carries the pollen from one sweet pea flower to another.