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Bumblebee


Bumblebee
Photo Information
Copyright: Paras Bhalla (parasbhalla) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 317 W: 0 N: 814] (3182)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-07-23
Categories: Insects
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC P150
Exposure: f/2.8, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-10-20 0:45
Viewed: 164
Points: 30
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Information on "Bumble bee" from Free Web Dictionary "WiKiPedia":

A bumblebee (or bumble bee) is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere.

Bumblebees are social insects that are characterized by black and yellow body hairs, often in bands. However, some species have orange or red on their bodies, or may be entirely black.[1] Another obvious (but not unique) characteristic is the soft nature of the hair (long, branched setae), called pile, that covers their entire body, making them appear and feel fuzzy. They are best distinguished from similarly large, fuzzy bees by the form of the female hind leg, which is modified to form a corbicula; a shiny concave surface that is bare, but surrounded by a fringe of hairs used to transport pollen (in similar bees, the hind leg is completely hairy, and pollen grains are wedged into the hairs for transport).

Like their relatives the honey bees, bumblebees feed on nectar and gather pollen to feed their young.

Biology

The blood or hemolymph, as in other arthropods, is carried in an open circulatory system. The body organs, "heart" (dorsal aorta), muscles, etc. are surrounded in a reservoir of blood. The dorsal aorta does pulse blood through its long tube, though, so there is a circulation of sorts.

In fertilised queens the ovaries are activated when the queen lays her egg. It passes along the oviduct to the vagina. In the vagina there is a container called the spermatheca. This is where the queen stores sperm from her mating. Before she lays the egg, she will decide whether to use sperm from the spermatheca to fertilise it or not. Non-fertilised eggs grow into males, and only fertilised eggs grow into females and queens.

As in all animals, hormones play a big role in the growth and development of the bumblebee. The hormones that stimulate the development of the ovaries are suppressed in the other female worker bees while the queen remains dominant. Salivary glands in the head secrete saliva which is mixed with the nectar and pollen. Saliva is also mixed into the nest materials to soften them. The fat body is a nutritional store; before hibernation, queens eat as much as they can to enlarge their fat body, and the fat in the cells is used up during hibernation.

Like all bee tongues, the bumblebee tongue (the proboscis) is composed of many different mouthparts acting as a unit, specialised to suck up nectar via capillary action. When at rest or flying, the proboscis is kept folded under the head. The abdomen is divided into dorsal tergites and ventral sternites. Wax is secreted from glands on the sternites.

The brightly-coloured pile of the bumble bee is a form of aposematic signal. Depending on the species and morph, these colours can range from entirely black, to bright yellow, red, orange, white, and pink. Thick pile can also act as insulation to keep the bee warm in cold weather. Further, when flying a bee builds up an electrostatic charge, and as flowers are usually well grounded, pollen is attracted to the bee's pile when it lands. When a pollen covered bee enters a flower, the charged pollen is preferentially attracted to the stigma because it is better grounded than the other parts of the flower.

A bumblebee does not have ears, and it is not known whether, or how, a bumblebee could hear sound waves passing through the air, however they can feel the vibrations of sounds through wood and other materials.

(For more information, please consult WiKiPedia)
goldyrs, nikosrio, mamabear, horias, maurydv, boreocypriensis, Argus, Gert-Paassen, cirano has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Paras, Is mein phool bade sundar hain.Khud dekh lena bacche.
Be good!
Goldy

Hello Paras.
Excellent capture, beautifull colors and light, sharp details,
TFS, best regards,
Nikos.

Ciao Paras. Geeat POV to exalt dephting and details. Amazing lgiht and bright colours.

Roberto

Paras,
This is an exceptional macro shot. Wonderful details, marvelous colors and perfect composition.
Congratulation!
Alina

hello Paras
very beautiful colored composition
great details
greeting lou

Paras
Wonderful!
This is my wife favorite plant!
Great capture, lovely colors!
Horia

  • Great 
  • joska Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 407 W: 0 N: 1011] (5460)
  • [2009-10-20 8:54]

Very good colors and composition!

Hello Paras,
a very beautiful picture with brilliant colours and good sharpness, excellent POV and composition
TFS
Best regards
Maurizio

Namastay Paras,

Wonderful capture with nice composition, details, warm colours and fine POV.
TFS and cheers,

Bayram

  • Great 
  • Argus Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3816 W: 190 N: 11348] (34987)
  • [2009-10-20 12:29]

Hello Paras,
Nicely composed shot of these four blue globe flowers, the nearest with a nice capture of a queen bumblebee seen with excellent sharpness and colours.
Thanks and best wishes,
Ivan

Hello Paras,

another great shot from a beautiful flower and bee.
Good pov and details with fine warm colours.

Gert

  • Great 
  • cirano Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 656 W: 0 N: 228] (4942)
  • [2009-10-20 13:26]

Slav Paras,
Very nice capture of this bumblebbe on the very beautiful flower taken from a great POV and excellent sharpness.TFS.
Regards,
Dūrzan

  • Great 
  • lousat Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1978 W: 6 N: 5527] (19673)
  • [2009-10-20 15:04]

Hi Paras,all is good for you to create and artistic composition of nature whit a lot of colors and everytime a fantastic choice of point of view.This is another different and wonderful example,thanks for share my artist of nature,have a nice day,LUCIANO

Hello Paras,

I like the framing of the blue flowers, they make up a fine composition!
Excellent details and a good 3D feeling...
The bumblebee is a fine bonus showing how the different elements in nature work together!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Ciao Paras, beautiful composition with lovely bumblebee on a fantastic flower, fine details and excellent sharpness, great light and colors, very well done, ciao Silvio

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