For sucessful pollination the whole pollinarium needs to be removed. In addition, it is usually difficult to reach the pollen without removing the whole structure. This does not seem to have happened in these pictures. It is possible that it had already been removed by a previous visitor.
Thanks Michael. I had just assumed that the white fluffy stuff was the broken up bits of pollinia and that is how Thelys often self pollinate when it falls down onto itself. Weird plants! Awesome bee! Regards Ang.
The pollen on the baskets of the bee legs may have come from Wahlenbergia that have white rather than yellow pollen. These often co-occur with Thelys. The latter don't offer a reward and the bees foraging among the Wahlenbergia are deceived into visiting the Thely flowers by their blue colour and yellow anther lobes. Anyway that's my theory!
Thanks Roger. This bee really sat for me so I had a lot of photos. Agree about the Wahlenbergia. I just added another photo of the bees rear end - this looks like a degrading pollinia to me anyway. Many Thelys have white and not yellow pollinia. The bee was certainly digging and scratching for something good I didn't see it adding white stuff to its legs.
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