User:Darkdingo/sandbox

Bees

A New Zealand native bee, note its lack of yellow and strong black color.

There’s a total of 41 species of bee native to New Zealand, 28 of these species being native to the islands, and 13 of them being non-natives that were introduced over time.

Native bees to New Zealand, as compared to the introduced species like the Honey Bee, do not have the ability to sting you. Other key differences include a shorter tongue that evolved to best collect nectar from New Zealand Native Flowers. Physically they are smaller then species like the Honey Bee and have less yellow and more dark/black coloration.

Tūī

Tūī, New Zealand native bird.

A native bird to New Zealand, the Tūī will stick its beak inside a flower in order to eat the nectar deep within the petals in order to extract vital nutrition they need to survive.

Flowers native to New Zealand have evolved alongside these birds in order to best deposit pollen onto them while they extract nectar, usually depositing it on the upper or underside of the beak. The Tūī then moves on to another flower and will cross pollinate them completing the cycle in a mutually beneficial relationship.