Tiny cacao flowers and fickle midges are part of a pollination puzzle that limits chocolate production
It's almost impossible to imagine a world without chocolate. Yet cacao trees, which are the source of chocolate, are vulnerable.
It's almost impossible to imagine a world without chocolate. Yet cacao trees, which are the source of chocolate, are vulnerable.
Plants & Animals
Feb 10, 2021
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0
The economic value of insect pollinators was $34 billion in the U.S. in 2012, much higher than previously thought, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University. The team also found that ...
Environment
Feb 3, 2021
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39
Residential gardens are a poor substitute for native bushland and increasing urbanization is a growing threat when it comes to bees, Curtin University research has found.
Plants & Animals
Feb 2, 2021
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1102
At a dinner party, or in the schoolyard, the question of favorite color frequently results in an answer of "blue". Why is it that humans are so fond of blue? And why does it seem to be so rare in the world of plants and animals?
Plants & Animals
Jan 25, 2021
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10592
Just like us, many insects need a decent night's sleep to function properly, but this might not be possible if they have been exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides, the most common form of insecticide used worldwide, suggests ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 21, 2021
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539
Hoya, with around 300 species, is the largest genus in Asclepiadoideae tribe Marsdenieae in the family Apocynaceae. Hoya species produce white flowers, strong nocturnal fragrance and abundant nectar. The pollination of two ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 19, 2021
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3
Some beetles go to great—and disgusting—lengths for their children.
Plants & Animals
Jan 17, 2021
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344
Most flowering plants depend on pollinators such as bees to transfer pollen from the male anthers of one flower to the female stigma of another flower, enabling fertilization and the production of fruits and seeds. Bee pollination, ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 12, 2021
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242
There is no overestimating the importance of pollinators in our world today. While crop pollination relies mainly on managed colonies of the domesticated honey bee (Apis mellifera), wild, unmanaged pollinators were found ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 7, 2021
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583
The spores of some fungi can linger in the environment for months or years just waiting for something to spread them elsewhere, like a gust of wind, falling rain or a passing insect or animal. Not so with Fusarium xyrophilum, ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 25, 2020
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38