Related topics: species · bees · flowering plants

Fungus commits 'floral fraud' to fool insects into spreading it

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, ...

Researchers find 'sweet spot' for kiwifruit pollination

Plant & Food Research scientists and collaborators from the U.S. have compiled more than 30 years of field-based data from kiwifruit research to create "digital twins" of pollination processes in kiwifruit orchards, and have ...

An international effort to understand cycad pollinators

University of Guam researchers continue to expand knowledge of a unique group of plants called cycads. The world's contemporary cycad plants depend on small insects for pollination services. The Guam team's 2017 discovery ...

Plant diversity makes West Africa's shea trees bear more fruit

Shea trees are grown widely in semi-arid parts of Africa for their fruit and seeds. From Senegal in the west to Uganda in the east, they are found in agro-forestry systems called parklands—landscapes where trees are left ...

Pollinator monitoring more than pays for itself

Monitoring schemes to count bees and other pollinating insects provide excellent value for money, and could help save species and protect UK food security, researchers have found.

Heated rivalries for pollinators among arctic plants

Insect pollination is as important to Arctic plants as it is to plants further south. When flowers abound, the plants have to compete for pollinators. Researchers at the University of Helsinki reveal that higher temperatures ...

Does city life make bumblebees larger?

Does urbanization drive bumblebee evolution? A new study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig provides an initial indication ...

Air pollution could be making honey bees sick, says study

Whether it's exhaust fumes from cars or smoke from power plants, air pollution is an often invisible threat that is a leading cause of death worldwide. Breathing air laced with heavy metals, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate ...

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