This was an incredibly difficult shot to take as I had to be looking up towards the fly. It took several years to obtain this image. Notice the pollen attached to the proboscis and head. The insect is holding on to several stamen filaments.

The hoverfly proboscis is pressed against the anther. Note the little hairs on the proboscis to which pollen is attached.

Closeup of the structures that surround the florets (phyllaries and pappus bristles). Note the barbed surface of the bristles and their lighter coloured brown tips

A closeup of a floret in the process of opening reveals the anther filaments at various stages of unbending.

Two anthers at slightly different stages of opening. are present in the same flower. The partially dehydrated triangular pollen grains have central indentations

A very high-resolution image of an isolated anther reveals the individual epidermal cells and the presence of very small protrusions on the pollen surface. The pollen is about 1 /9 th of a millimetre in size

A half-millimetre rule shwos the size of the various components of a dissected pericarp

Pollen on the styles of five stigmas