poppy

My friend Monique gave me a bunch of poppies and, as usual, I couldn't resist climbing into them with my lovely micro lens. I couldn't decide which to share with you, so here's a few of my faves:

My favourite abstract shot 

I discovered two tiny caterpillars on two of the flowers, covered in pollen. This one had spun silky filaments across the petals.

close-up of the centre of the poppy flower, with the star-shaped stigma, coated with sticky nectar and microscopic hairs, surrounded by the pollen-laden anthers

I also found one of these iridescent green beetles on one of the poppies. (We have masses around the house, so I presume a clutch of eggs hatched recently in one of the rooms.) With the naked eye they are very pretty, but seeing this one's face zoomed in on a macro shot, I'm rather glad they're less than a centimetre long!