This Turk’s cap lily began blooming recently. Early in the morning, the petals were just beginning to open and the anthers were full.
Within a few hours, the sun rose and the pollinators arrived.
Here’s a close view of the Augochlora green metallic bee on the lily’s anther.
Later in the day, when I visited the lily again I noticed the anthers had shrivelled. And no pollinators were hanging around.
Since then I observed this sequence repeat itself with each new bloom — lush anthers attracting pollinators (primarily these “sweat bees”) which fade into dried-up bits hanging from their filaments.
