How To Pollinate A Pumpkin Flower

This is a male flower:

This is a female flower. As you can see, the immature unfertilised pumpkin is at the base of the petals:

I used to use a cotton bud to fertilise the female flowers but I found an easier way. You just pluck the male flower and tear off the petals to reveal the stamen:

Then you proceed to smear the stamen on the stigma of the female flower:

(The picture is blurry as I was hopping around in order to avoid red ants; nasty creatures, one actually bit me and cause my fingers to swell)

Sometimes you may find maggot like creatures in the stamen of the male flower. These are caterpillars (my mother said they are Lepidopterans) that eat the stamen. This particular kind is very tough. You have to exert some pressure in popping them: