|
2 |
Pollen carriers
When bees pay a flying visit to
flowers, pollen is caught between the hairs on their bodies. Hairs are mostly
plumose, in order to retain more pollen grains. To carry larger quantities
of "bulk goods" they need,
however, special organs into which they store the pollen that they scrape
from the bodies with their legs. For this particular purpose, hairs on
different parts of the body have been developed by various groups of bees.
For the transport of pollen, the majority of bee species use pollen scopae on
their hind legs. Megachilid bees carry it on the scopa on the underside of
the abdomen, while andrenid bees use, apart from their legs, the little sacs
at the rear of their chests. Some halictid bees, on the other hand, carry it
on their legs and abdomen at the same time, while Hylaeus and Xylocopa
transport the pollen in their crops, together with nectar. |
||
|
Lasioglossum puncticolle mining bee transports the pollen on its legs and abdomen. In other bees,
hairs have been developed to a greater extent for this particular purpose on
one of these body parts. |
With its pollen cargo, Pseudapis bispinosa mining bee returns to its nest under the ground. |
|
|
|
Hairy-legged mining bees (Dasypoda hirtipes) have the largest pollen scopae on their hind legs. |
Leaf-cutter bee (Megachile pilidens) carries the pollen on the bottom part of its abdomen. |
|
|
Slovenian
Museum of Natural History
|
|
||
