Insects and Spiders

Very Cool Adaptation

Large carpenter bees don't have the long tongues that you find with butterflies and hummingbirds. They can't climb inside deep flowers like honeysuckle and salvia the way smaller bees do. So, they have learned a very cool method of adaptation. They slit open the base of the flower and break into the nectar pool where they drink all of the nectar without providing any pollination services. They do pollinate open faced flowers.
Female Southern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa micans)
Salvia x greggii ‘Raspberry Delight’

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