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Nectar Robbery
what we see here is a flower of Anchusa strigosa with a honey-bee (Apis mellifera). but the bee is approaching the base of the flower, and not its entrance - why?
what is happening here is Nectar robbery!
Anchusa strigosa is a selective plant. it "wants" to be pollinated by butterflies. so it has a barrier at the flower's entrance that looks like many thin needles. only butterflies that have long proboscis can penetrate the barrier, reach the nectar and pollinate the flower.
the honey-bee can't do that. but it's a smart creature and it knows where the nectar is - so it cuts a hole at the base of the flower, where the nectaries are, and robs the nectar without pollinating the flower.
''Anchusa strigosa'' is a non-succulent species of herbaceous plants in the Boraginaceae family endemic to the Eastern Mediterranean regions, particularly, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, as far as Iran. It is known widely by its common names of strigose bugloss and prickly alkanet.
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