elanya

Originally from etir.... boingboig article

From the original article (Bänziger et al 2009, Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) That Drink Human Tears, Kansas Entomological Journal:
When seeking tears, Lisotrigona first circled around one's head, then zig-zagged in front of the eyes, occasionally the ear or the neck, then generally back again to the eyes. After a few seconds it flew toward the eye, landed on the lower eyelashes and, grasping the ciliae, crawled toward the eye where it plunged the extended proboscis into the gutter-like trough between lid and eye ball to suck lachrymal fluid (Figs. 1–3, 5–6). In many cases the landing on ciliae was so close to the eye that the proboscis could reach the trough without crawling. During sucking, all legs either continued to clutch the ciliae (Fig. 6), or the fore legs were placed on the lid or conjunctiva (Fig. 1, 3), while the middle and hind legs continued to grip the ciliae. In rare cases a foreleg was placed onto the eye ball, and in one case the bee even climbed onto it with all legs. Landing at the corner of the eye, on the upper eyelashes (Fig. 5), or on the skin below the lower eyelashes, was infrequent. In this case the bee pushed itself through the gaps between the ciliae, or climbed them to reach the eye. On landing, automatic blinking with the eye often prevented the bee from getting a firm hold, causing it to fall off the eyelashes. If so, the bee persistently tried again and again until it was successful, or finally gave up and flew off.


Erm, you probably cant really click on the figures, so have this one instead:



Bed time!