Gandhi
23-06-2007, 16:16
*groan*
I know, bad joke and the technical qualities of the shots aint brilliant either but these are here to show something that I forgot goes on!
I Noticed one of my plants in my ramshackle little garden had big pieces taken out of it today, and only that one plant. Wondering what it could bee I waited around for a bit and along came the little lass bellow. Easy to shoot on the plant but once the section of leaf was free she was off like a rocket, too fast for my or my cameras focusing skills and despite being laden down!
This is the work of leaf-cutting bees that use the leaf segments in the construction of their nests. Rose leaves are particularly favoured, but other plants are also used. The female bee carries one leaf piece at a time back to her nest.
Each thimble-shaped leaf cell is then stocked with a mixture of nectar and pollen on which the bee lays an egg, before capping the cell with circular pieces of leaf. The process is repeated until the nest may contain up to 20 cells. The nests are sometimes found when glasshouse plants are being repotted or old seed trays emptied; by then the leaves may have become greyish brown and the cells may contain white grubs which will pupate and emerge as adult bees the following year.
These bees are solitary with each female having her own individual nest that she constructs and provisions on her own. The females have stings but lack aggression and do not chase or sting people. Most plants tolerate the damage, although small plants may suffer a significant loss of leaf area. Nests in flower pots have little impact on the plant unless it is growing in a small pot.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_00212.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_0022.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_0024.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_0025.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_00261.jpg
I know, bad joke and the technical qualities of the shots aint brilliant either but these are here to show something that I forgot goes on!
I Noticed one of my plants in my ramshackle little garden had big pieces taken out of it today, and only that one plant. Wondering what it could bee I waited around for a bit and along came the little lass bellow. Easy to shoot on the plant but once the section of leaf was free she was off like a rocket, too fast for my or my cameras focusing skills and despite being laden down!
This is the work of leaf-cutting bees that use the leaf segments in the construction of their nests. Rose leaves are particularly favoured, but other plants are also used. The female bee carries one leaf piece at a time back to her nest.
Each thimble-shaped leaf cell is then stocked with a mixture of nectar and pollen on which the bee lays an egg, before capping the cell with circular pieces of leaf. The process is repeated until the nest may contain up to 20 cells. The nests are sometimes found when glasshouse plants are being repotted or old seed trays emptied; by then the leaves may have become greyish brown and the cells may contain white grubs which will pupate and emerge as adult bees the following year.
These bees are solitary with each female having her own individual nest that she constructs and provisions on her own. The females have stings but lack aggression and do not chase or sting people. Most plants tolerate the damage, although small plants may suffer a significant loss of leaf area. Nests in flower pots have little impact on the plant unless it is growing in a small pot.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_00212.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_0022.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_0024.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_0025.jpg
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/1061/DSC_00261.jpg