Nectar. Narciso, Portuguese for any plant of the genus Narcissus.
A photo from earlier this Spring showing a flower fly feeding on the nectar of a Narcissus flower of the “Bridal Crown” variety. This double daffodil variety produces long-lasting flowers with a delightful scent. They’re gone now and I miss them already.
Click for full size!
© Nightjar, all rights reserved.
So beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen Narcissus since I left SoCal.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this flower before. It’s beautiful and your photo really captures the different textures. It seems to be inviting me to touch it.
I remember them having an intoxicating scent. I wonder if I could get them to grow here.
Thank you!
Yes, Caine, their scent is indeed something special. And I think you could grow them, at least according to here it seems your hardiness zone makes it possible.
That’s a very bee-like fly there! (Not doubting the identification just, wow is it similar. Convergent evlution -mimicking the stinging hymenopteran?)
StevoR,
Indeed, the mimicry is strong with this one! There are two families of flies that mimic bees, Syrphidae and Bombyliidae. I believe the one here belongs to the former. I always tell bees and flies apart based on the size of their antennae, bees have much longer and usually curved antennae. If you zoom in on this photo you will notice they are very short. And yeah, they probably gain some protection by looking like they can sting!