Imogen's photos with the keyword: macro

Carpenter Bee, on Ceratostigma or Leadwort flower. One of the largest bee species commonly seen in gardens.

Honey Bee collecting nectar and pollen from a flower in the Weimar bee museum garden.

Blue Banded native bee lands on lavender flower. Its large mouthparts can be clearly seen siphoning from the flower. This bee hovers very often while it gathers nectar and is thus a good "buzz pollinator" for plants like tomatoes which are wind pollinated normally. Insects like this bee that buzz near a plant while feeding will facilitate pollination.

Blue banded bee, Amegilla, a native bee of Australia collecting nectar from a Salvia flower. The bee has learnt that it is easier to get to the pollen by punching a hole through the base of the flower rather than fighting its way up the funnel of the flower. Sadly it means the flower misses out on having its pollen dispersed by the bee.

Australian native bee, Amegilla or Blue Banded Bee flying towards Salvia Uliginosa. This true blue Salvia lures insects like a magnet, including most bees.

Covered in raindrops this fly rests on a flower waiting to dry off perhaps?

A native Australian bee, Amegilla, employs stealth to gain access to the nectar in this flower by going directly to the base of the flower calyx. She makes a small hole with her sharp mouthpiece through the wall of the flower to get to the nectar. The bee saves time doing this and not using the normal method of exploring the flower trumpet. The negative side to this is pollination of flowers is diminished as the bee tends not to transfer pollen between flowers.

A Megachile species Bee, resting on a leaf between foraging, or perhaps about to cut a piece of leaf out of this plant. Megachile is a solitary bee living alone in a hole in the ground or crevice in a tree. They do not form hive colonies nor store honey. Also called Leafcutter Bees as they cut neat round pieces out of plant leaves which they use as construction material in their nest. They are useful pollinators of alfalfa and other crops having been introduced to North America and Australia for this purpose.

Assassin Fly or Robber Fly, Ommatius sp., on Perennial Basil plant. Named thus because it catches and eats other insects, flies, bees, wasps. It catches the prey in mid-air usually.