THE BELLY RUB

While we are busy performing our regular duties in life, there are other creatures in nature who are also serving their duties all the time. Among all the creatures out there in nature, insect pollinators are directly related to our food security and hence, bees have been under the focus of scientific interests since ancient times. Bees are the most efficient pollinators and are quite responsible for our daily supply of various delicious food items like honey, several fruits and vegetables etc. About one-third of our food depends on bee pollination. 

Pollination is a simple process that involves the transfer of male part (pollen grain) from anthers to the female part (stigma) of a flower causing fertilization which leads to the development of fruits. Bees perform this action unknowingly like other pollinators do. The world of bees is extremely diverse and so does their behaviour in all aspects. Although, the basic biology of many bee species is still completely unknown; however, scientists have already studied several thousands of species all over the world. All the bees have unique behavioural aspects to live their life in the wild. Exploration of bee behaviour has unlocked new avenues of researches that are helping us to know about their foraging preference, foraging style, pollination efficiency etc.

Foraging behaviour of bees is an interesting and astonishing topic. One can easily be overwhelmed by the specific and accurate actions of a foraging bee right from the selection of flower to forage on, how it senses the location of the floral rewards (mostly nectar and pollen), how it packs pollen in its scopa and many more. Now, what is scopa? Scopa is the area on the bee’s body that is modified to store pollen grains. The structure of scopa and its hairs have evolved to aid in pollen storage and the hairs may be strongly plumose (or branched) or may be densely packed or in the form of basket (called as corbicula or pollen basket). Scopa is generally located on the legs (mostly on the hind legs) (eg. family Apidae, Halictidae etc.) but ventral abdominal scopa can also be seen in certain groups of bees (eg. leaf cutter bees; family Megachilidae). Depending on the scopal types and position, bee’s behaviour of collecting pollen grains also varies.

Let's have a look at the short video clip down here which I have prepared to celebrate the World Bee Day (20th May 2020). This video was recorded inside a maintained garden at Ballygunge Science College Campus, Kolkata, India. This short visual will hopefully give you a clear idea about this incredible pollen collection behaviour of the bee. I have also described the process in detail in the following section.

👉 Behaviour of bee - Megachile (Creightonella) fraterna on Crotalaria flower

The above video is highlighting the pollen collection behaviour of a megachilid bee, Megachile (Creightonella) fraterna on Crotalaria retusa (family Fabaceae) flowers. The video was processed in slow motion so that one can understand the uniqueness of the bee’s behaviour. This bee, as described above, has ventral abdominal scopa which it rubs over the floral reproductive parts, specifically where the anthers are located. As a consequence of this action, numerous pollen grains get trapped within densely packed series of plumose scopal hairs and by that way, the bee collects pollen. In the flowers of family Fabaceae, as in this case, pair of keel petals serve as the landing platform for the insect visitors and the same hide floral reproductive parts beneath itself. In this case, reproductive parts (anthers and stigma) are clumped together. When the bee visits, it holds the inner central part of the flower firmly with mandibles and it pushes the keel petals down which creates an opening to expose the reproductive parts of the flower. Then, the bee starts rubbing its ventral abdomen over the anthers to collect pollen grains. As the stigma is clumped with the anthers, this process may also transfer pollen (collected from previously visited flowers) from the abdominal scopa on to the stigma which leads to the initiation of pollination.

In bare eyes, this process just looks like a busy bee buzzing near flowers here and there. But if you observe closely and precisely, you can understand what is going on with this fascinating foraging behaviour. 😎 

Hope you enjoyed this short introduction and the video of this particular bee foraging style. If you like it, please provide your feedback in the COMMENTS below and don’t forget to SHARE this Pokamo Blog widely. If you feel interested to know more about nature, please get in touch with this blog! 😊👍