Dear All
Many thanks for your kind comments. I have just been in the rainforest in Western Kenya talking about pollinators with farmers and schoolchildren. The beautiful Tithonia were blooming all along the roads through the forest and absolutely covered in stingless bees, honeybees and other creatures.
Here are some of the interesting creatures we came across:
There were also some creatures pretending to be honeybees – here is a hovevfly (with the stripey-eyes) and a honeybee feeding from the same flower. The hoverfly is a mimic of the honeybee, which can sting and is hence avoided by some birds, etc.
Several different kinds of stingless bees – including these tiny black ones, were frantically packing pollen into the special ‘pollen baskets’ on their hind-legs.
Later on while taking some schoolchildren for a walk, we came across this honeybee who had fallen victim to a flower spider. The spider captures the honeybee and subdues it with its venom then holds on to it and even waves it about to attract other bees to the same flower!
More from the world of bugs soon!