Bumblebees infected with a common intestinal parasite are drawn to flowers whose nectar and pollen have a medicinal effect, a Dartmouth-led study shows. The findings suggest that plant chemistry could help combat the decline ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 1, 2015
2
2002
Hummingbirds live life at incomprehensible speeds. Their flight acrobatics are amazing, maneuvering more like insects than birds as they flit around, flying upside down and even backwards. They're a blur as they race between ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 19, 2015
0
74
(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers, two with Harvard University the other with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology has found while conducting experiments, that bumble flight is impacted by the load it carries, particularly ...
Some pollinators not only provide fertilization services for flowering plants, they also lay their eggs on the plants' leaves after they have visited the flowers. Voracious caterpillars hatch from these eggs and their enormous ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 9, 2015
0
130
Researchers studying the interaction between plants, pollinators and parasites report that in recent experiments, bees infected with a common intestinal parasite had reduced parasite levels in their guts after seven days ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 17, 2015
2
691
When researchers studying several bird-pollinated species of Impatiens flowers in the mountains of western Cameroon noticed one with an odd, upwardly curving nectar spur, they couldn't imagine how any sunbird could ever sip ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 8, 2014
0
0
Evolution is based on diversity, and sexual reproduction is key to creating a diverse population that secures competitiveness in nature. Plants had to solve a problem: they needed to find ways to spread their genetic material. ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 16, 2014
0
2
(Phys.org) —Huge swaths of the agricultural industry depend on the humble honeybee. According to the USDA, "about one mouthful in three in our diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination." Biologists ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 24, 2014
1
1
A long-proboscid fly with an extra-long, tongue-like proboscis might seem to take extra-long to feed on a flower, but it actually has an advantage over its counterparts with average sized nectar-sipping mouth parts. It can ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 11, 2013
0
1
Hummingbird metabolism is a marvel of evolutionary engineering. These tiny birds can power all of their energetic hovering flight by burning the sugar contained in the floral nectar of their diet.
Plants & Animals
Dec 5, 2013
0
0
