After Rain

Title

After Rain

Artist

Rob Hemphill

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

This hoverfly is busy doing what hoverflies do best on this pink lily in an Irish garden. In between bouts of collecting nectar, this insect would drink from the raindrops on the petals. Looking down a macro lens takes one into a very intimate, otherly sort of world.

Hoverflies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprotrophs, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects.

Lilies are tall perennials ranging in height from 2–6 ft (60–180 cm). They form naked or tunicless scaly underground bulbs which are their organs of perennation. In some North American species the base of the bulb develops into rhizomes, on which numerous small bulbs are found. Some species develop stolons. Most bulbs are buried deep in the ground, but a few species form bulbs near the soil surface. Many species form stem-roots. With these, the bulb grows naturally at some depth in the soil, and each year the new stem puts out adventitious roots above the bulb as it emerges from the soil. These roots are in addition to the basal roots that develop at the base of the bulb.

The flowers are large, often fragrant, and come in a wide range of colors including whites, yellows, oranges, pinks, reds and purples. Markings include spots and brush strokes. The plants are late spring- or summer-flowering. Flowers are borne in racemes or umbels at the tip of the stem, with six tepals spreading or reflexed, to give flowers varying from funnel shape to a "Turk's cap". The tepals are free from each other, and bear a nectary at the base of each flower. The ovary is 'superior', borne above the point of attachment of the anthers. The fruit is a three-celled capsule.

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Featured in the following FAA Groups:

"BUGs BUGs and more BUGs" 08/08/2020
"Drip Drops and or Dots" 07/22/2020
"Your Story of Art" 07/19/2020
"Your Very Best Photography" 07/18/2020
"Global Flowers Photography" 07/18/2020
"Flower Beauty" 07/16/2020
"Fine Art America Professionals" 07/16/2020
"10 Plus" 07/16/2020
"An Image Inspiring Meditation" 07/15/2020
"Flower On Green" 07/15/2020
"Nikon Full Frame Cameras" 07/15/2020
"Macro Marvels" 07/15/2020

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Uploaded

July 15th, 2020

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Viewed 338 Times  -  Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/26/2024 at 4:25 AM

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