In my photo studio, I see bats fl y to sea bean fl owers to fi nd nectar.


Caught in the Act T e photos show flowers blooming and bats zooming in. Each time, a bat grabs a flower’s petals with its thumbs. It tucks its tail and swings its feet up to hold on. T en something wild happens. As the bat drinks nectar, long, thin stalks


called stamens spring out near the bat’s back end. Anthers at the top of each stamen are covered in a sticky dust called pollen. T e movement of the stamens, or the flower’s male parts, flings pollen onto the bat’s back end. T en the bat flies to another sea bean


for more nectar. Some pollen from the first flower rubs off onto the second flower’s pistil, or female part. T e bat carries pollen from flower to flower, pollinating them. Now, the flowers can make seeds and new plants. So far, my photos show why the flowers


attract bats. T ey do it to reproduce and survive. We still want to investigate how flowers can call bats.


Pollen from a bell fl ower dusts the throat of a bat.


JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2015 19


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