Nick Upton / Horse fly (Pangonius funebris), a carpenter bee mimic, using its long proboscis to forage on Milk thistle (Carduus marianus), Lesbos / Lesvos, Greece, May.

Nick Upton / Lesbian / Balkan marbled white (Melanarge larissa lesbina) feeding from Milk thistle (Silybum marianum = Carduus marianum) near the coast, Lesbos / Lesvos, Greece, May.

Nick Upton / Lesbian / Balkan marbled white (Melanarge larissa lesbina) feeding from Milk thistle (Silybum marianum = Carduus marianum) alongside a Burnet moth (Zygaena punctum), Lesbos / Lesvos, Greece, May.

Brent Stephenson / Male Common drone fly (Eristalis tenax) on a Variegated / Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) flower, Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, November.

Jean E. Roche / Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) seeds, Camargue, France, October.

Paul Harcourt Davies / Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) flower head, Sibillini, Umbria, Italy. May.

Loic Poidevin / Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) flower, Vendee, France, May

Loic Poidevin / Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) flower, Vendee, France, May