False-colour scanning electron micrograph of a pollen basket on the hind knee of a worker honey bee, Apis mellifera. The pollen basket is filled to ca

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False-colour scanning electron micrograph of a pollen basket on the hind knee of a worker honey bee, Apis mellifera. The pollen basket is filled to capacity with pollen grains of the ivy flower, Hedera helix. The basket is formed by long, curved hairs (the design is obscured here by the volume of pollen). The bee uses its front claws to comb the pollen from its body after a foraging expedition in a flower; the pollen is moistened & transferred to the basket. As the bee flies on to a neighbouring flower, the pollen lodged in the basket may rub onto the stigmatic surfaces within the flower's petals, making fertilisation of the plant possible. Magnification: x7 at 35mm size.

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Size: 3406px × 5138px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: apis, basket, bee, botany, colouring, hedera, helix, honey, insect-borne, ivy, jbu, mellifera, nature, plant, plants, pollen, reproduction, reproductive