Pollinators are organisms that mediate the transfer of pollen between the male and female reproductive structures of seed plants, thereby enabling sexual reproduction and gene flow within and among plant populations. They encompass a diverse set of taxa, including many insects (notably bees, flies, butterflies, moths, beetles), some vertebrates (such as birds and bats), and other animals that incidentally or actively collect floral resources like nectar and pollen. In ecological and evolutionary research, pollinators are central to studies of plant–animal mutualisms, floral trait adaptation, community assembly, and ecosystem functioning, as well as to analyses of network structure, coevolutionary dynamics, and the stability and resilience of plant–pollinator interaction webs.
Entomologists have discovered a new species of mining bee that has an unusually tight relationship with cenizo, the official state shrub of Texas. Silas Bossert, assistant professor in Washington State University's Department ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2026
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The cactus on your windowsill may grow slowly, but new research shows that cacti are surprisingly fast at creating new species. Biologists have long thought that pollinators and specialized flowers drive the formation of ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 17, 2026
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If you were a bee, how would you choose a flower to land on? You might go to the most beautiful one, as pollination biologists have long suggested that flowers with striking colors attract pollinators more easily. Or perhaps, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 13, 2026
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A man-made food source provided honey bees a nutritious diet at a commercial scale over the course of two winter seasons, according to a new study led by Washington State University researchers. The study, published in the ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 12, 2026
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170 species of wild bees live on the Hubland Campus of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU). This is the result of a study carried out by the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology at the JMU Biocentre from ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 9, 2026
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Honeybees collecting nectar from a "buffet" of Australian native plants made honey with anti-microbial abilities that is more potent than "single origin" honey made from only one source of plant or flower, a University of ...
Ecology
Mar 7, 2026
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When it comes to research on habitats for pollinating insects, villages have so far received relatively little attention. The project Summende Dörfer (Buzzing Villages), based at the Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 6, 2026
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Japanese red elder plants safeguard their own survival when they drop fruits infested by Heterhelus beetle larvae, as well as the survival of these larvae. A Kobe University study changes the narrative on how a plant and ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 5, 2026
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During their search for food, most insects head specifically for the flowers that promise the highest reward. But how do they know which ones to choose? Researchers from the University of Konstanz and the University of Würzburg ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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Members of the arachnid class—think spiders, scorpions and harvestmen (daddy long legs)—are often the targets of revulsion, disgust and fear. Yet, they are crucial for ecosystems to thrive. Given the crash in worldwide biodiversity, ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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