Apoidea is the Bee super-family of insects of the sub-order Apocrita, order Hymenoptera. The mouthparts are transformed into a sucking tube of variable length to reach the nectar at the bottom of trumpet-shaped flowers. Most species are solitary, a few are social. Social species create colonies founded by a female (known as the queen). In solitary species the female excavates a nest and provides food for future larvae. Research Apoidea
The banana is a perennialherb cultivated in tropical and sub tropical climates. Bananas are fast-growing, arising from underground rhizomes. The fleshy stalks or pseudostems formed by upright concentric layers of leaf sheaths constitute the functional trunks. The true stem begins as an underground corm which grows upwards, pushing its way out through the centre of the stalk 10 to 15 months after planting, eventually producing the terminal inflorescence which will later bear the fruit. Each stalk produces one huge flowercluster and then dies. New stalks then grow from the rhizome. The large rectangular or elliptic leaf blades are extensions of the sheaths of the pseudostem and are joined to them by fleshy, deeply grooved, short petioles. The leaves unfurl, as the plant grows, at the rate of one per week in warm weather, and extend upward and outward , becoming as much as 2.5 metres long and 0.75 metres wide. They may be entirely green, green with maroon patches, or green on the upper side and red-purple beneath. The leaf veins run from the mid-rib straight to the outer edge of the leaf. Even when the wind shreds the leaf, the veins are still able to function. Approximately 44 leaves will appear before the inflorescence. The banana inflorescence shooting out from the heart in the tip of the stem, is at first a large, long-oval, tapering, purple-clad bud. As it opens, the slim, nectar-rich, tubular, toothed, white flowers appear. They are clustered in whorled double rows along the floral stalk, each cluster covered by a thick, waxy, hood like bract, purple outside and deep red within.
The flowers occupying the first five to fifteen rows are female. As the rachis of the inflorescence continues to elongate, sterile flowers with abortive male and female parts appear, followed by normal staminate ones with abortive ovaries. The two latter flower types eventually drop in most edible bananas. The ovaries contained in the first (female) flowers grow rapidly, developing parthenocarpically into clusters of fruits, called hands. The number of hands varies with the species and variety.
The fruit (technically a berry) turns from deep green to yellow or red, and may range from ten centimetres to thirty centimetres in length and two centimetres to five centimetres in diameter. The flesh, ivory-white to yellow or salmon-yellow, may be firm, astringent, even gummy with latex when unripe, turning tender and slippery, or soft and mellow or rather dry and mealy or starchy when ripe. The flavour may be mild and sweet or slightly acid with a distinct appletone. The common cultivated types are generally seedless with just vestiges of ovules visible as brown specks. Occasionally, cross-pollination with wild types will result in a number of seeds in a normally seedless variety. Research Banana
Bembecidae is a family of wasp-like hymenopterous insects with stings, mostly natives of warm countries, and known also as Sand-wasps. The female excavates cells in the sand, in which she deposits, together with her eggs, various larvae or perfect insects stung into insensibility, as support for her progeny when hatched. They are very active, fond of the nectar of flowers, and delight in sunshine. Bembex is the typical genus of this family. Research Bembecidae
Butterfly is the common name of all diurnal lepidopterous insects, corresponding to the original Linnaean genusPapilio. The family of the butterflies or diurnalLepidoptera (so called to distinguish them from nocturnal or crepuscular Lepidoptera, such as moths) is a very extensive one, and naturalists differ much as to the manner of subdividing it.
One of the most remarkable and interesting circumstances connected with these beautiful insects is their series of transformations before reaching a perfect state. The female butterfly lays a great quantity of eggs, which produce larvae, commonly called caterpillars. After a short life these assume a new form, and become chrysalids or pupa. These chrysalids are attached to other bodies in various ways, and are of various forms; they often have brilliant golden or argentine spots. Within its covering the insect develops, to emerge as the active and brilliant butterfly. These insects in their perfect form suck the nectar of plants, but take little food, and are all believed to be short-lived, their work in the perfect state being almost confined to the propagation of the species. Butterflies vary greatly in size and colouring, but most of them are very beautiful.
The largest butterflies are found in tropical countries, where some measure nearly 30 cm across the wings. They may generally be distinguished from moths by having their wings erect when sitting, the moths having theirs horizontal. Some of them have great powers of flight. Among the most remarkable butterflies are those that present an extraordinary likeness to other objects such as leaves, green or withered, flowers, bark, etc, a feature that serves greatly to protect them from enemies. Research Butterfly
Forking larkspur (Delphinium consolida) or field larkspur as it is also known, is a highly poisonous annual or biennialherb of the family Ranunculaceae with a slender tap root and an erect, branched, leafy stem. The leaves are sessile, alternate and palmate with the segments finely divided. The flowers are blue and have a pronounced upward-curving spur which secrets nectar. The flowers are arranged in a terminal spike. The fruit is a follicle with flattened, black, pitted seeds. Research Forking Larkspur
The Golden Lion Tamarin or Golden Lion Marmoset (Leontopithecus rosalia) is a small monkey about 25 centimeters long excluding the tail, found in the coastal rain forests of Brazil. The golden lion tamarin is omnivorous, eating fruits, gum, nectar, insects, and small vertebrates and is diurnal and predominantly arboreal. They live in territorial family groups of one pair of sexually mature adults and their young, with the younger adults helping with rearing the very young. Destruction of the coastal forests during the 20th century and into the 21st century means the golden lion tamarin is now almost extinct, with perhaps less than 100 animals still in the wild in 2008. Research Golden Lion Tamarin More pictures of Golden Lion Tamarin
Honey-eater is a name given to a number of insessorial birds forming the family Meliphagidae, of the tribe Tenuirostres. They form a large group, feeding mainly on honey and the nectar of flowers. These birds are found in Australia and surrounding islands. They have long curved sharp bills, with a tongue terminating in a pencil of delicate filaments. Research Honey-eater
The lime tree (Tilia europoea) or linden tree of Germany is extensively planted in England on account of its fairly rapid growth and its tolerance of town atmosphere. It has a sturdy trunk and slender upright, close-growing branches. The leaves are large and heart-shaped, pointed at the apex, and with a downy under surface. The lime bears groups of very fragrant yellowish- green flowers which are much sought after by bees on account of the large quantities of nectar they contain. The wood of the lime is white and close- grained. Research Lime Tree
Nectar is a sugary solution produced by glandular structures (nectaries) in animal-pollinated flowers. Nectar attracts insects, birds, or bats to the flower and encourages pollination as the animal collects nectar from different sources. Research Nectar
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