This Buff-tailed Bumblebee spent quite a bit of time on the Birds's-foot trefoil with some nice nectar and a lovely groom.
Normally we see the proboscis ("tongue") as a just a long glossy appendage, but the bumblee's "tongue" is really a complex part, and what we are seeing here is that she has opened her proboscis to separate her labial palps from her central glossa ("tongue"). Apparently they do that regularly as part of their grooming.
I hope to retire in the next 6-24 months. I want to consolidate my pensions and understand my options for using my pension.
I have decided that once I retire, I will either buy an annuity (if the rates are "good enough") or take multiple lump sums (UFPLS).
I have 3 pensions
As my workplace pension is still being paid into every month, my default assumption is that I should consolidate the three into that one, so that all the money is in one place when it comes to retirement. Before doing so, I need to ask Standard Life
Is there anything else I should check / consider / ask before I start the consolidation?
To my unscientific eye, this fly is pure steampunk, with its rivetted armour on the abdomen, thick leather coat on the thorax and on its head that plague-doctor's mask with a long beak.
But the LLM suggests that its real name is a Snipe Fly, so named because its proboscis looks a bit like a snipe bird's bill.
The fly feeds on pollen and nectar, but is also a predators feeding on midges, mosquitoes, gnats, aphids and other small flies.
I'm a newbie in the group and this is my first post. I love to take "environmental insect portraits" which are close-ups but rarely genuine macro shots at 1:1.