Mosquitoes buzz. Bugs bite. I try not to move. I’m waiting to see a


flower “call” a bat. T is may sound odd. Yet Ralph


Simon thinks diff erently. Simon is a biologist. He says some flowers use sound to call bats. T e bats then drink the flowers’ nectar. I’m a photographer and bat expert.


Simon and I have teamed up to see how flowers and bats fi nd each other at night. We watch closely. A flower called


a sea bean opens its petals. T en a bat flies to the flower. It shoves its snout deep into the flower. T e bat flies off . It happens so fast, I can’t take any photos. T at’s okay.


Discover the main parts a flower uses for pollination.


The pistil


collects pollen to make seeds.


The anther makes pollen.


The long stalk of the stamen holds up an anther.


Bat Catcher Earlier, Simon and I had hung a net between two trees. Four bats are now trapped in its threads. T ey aren’t hurt, but they can’t escape. Before I try to untangle the bats,


I put on a leather glove. T ese bats have sharp teeth. I slip each bat into a cloth bag. T en I take the bats to my photo studio. Inside the dark studio, sea beans


hang from metal stands. I free the bats. T e bats flit from sea bean to sea bean. I snap pictures with my camera. Now, I’ll be able to see what happened so quickly in the wild.


Inside F alower


The petals attract pollinators.


10 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24