Insects are the primary pollinators of most flowers and crops. Niklas_Weidner/500px via Getty Images Rachel Mallinger: A lot of different insects pollinate. Insects visit flowers for many purposes, ...
Spring flowers have co-evolved with insect pollinators for a long time. The flowers require pollen delivery to set seed. To entice insects to visit and deliver the pollen, they produce food rewards ...
Using a mobile stamen to slap away insect visitors maximizes pollination and minimizes costs to flowers, a study shows. For centuries scientists have observed that when a visiting insect's tongue ...
Many plants, from crops to carnations, cannot bear fruit or reproduce without bees, beetles, butterflies and other insects to pollinate them. But the population of insect pollinators is dropping in ...
Honeybees, which are not native to the United States, may be outcompeting native bees for pollen. Ed Reschke via Getty Images Honeybees are often heralded as a symbol of biodiversity and a key species ...
It can be hard to get bees to do their vital work in indoor farms or greenhouses. Instead, the plants may need a little robotic assistance to reproduce. Out in a field, tomato plants are pollinated ...
Bees leave an electric trace on pollinated flowers, telling other bees the flower is tapped out. A study found fertilizers change that electric field and put bumblebees off from fertilizing. Bees are ...
Through pollination and feeding on all parts of plants, insects influence which plants thrive, which struggle, and even ...
There are five social species of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) native to Florida, and each is an important pollinator throughout the state. Although European honeybees make up about 85 percent of our ...
A guide to seven of the best perennials to plant in January, and you can get all of these as bare-root plants to benefit bees ...
Self-pollinating plants have male and female parts, allowing the pollen to travel from the anther in the stamen to the stigma in the pistil. These plants can be fertilized without the help of ...