Showing posts with label pollination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pollination. Show all posts

Australian Bees Use Their Heads

Bees don't just take pollen: they physically make flowers release the pollen. The, Australian blue-banded bee, Amegilla murrayensis, and the North American eastern bumble bee, Bombus, impatiens, were compared.

Australian blue-banded bee Amegilla murrayensis
Slow motion filming enabled observation of bee behavior. North American bees grabbed the flower anther with their mandibles (hands) then tensed their wing muscles and began to "vibrate' the pollen free. This proces was carried out once per flower

Blue-banded bees did not use their mandibles at all. They used their heads, literally. They headbutted the flowers with their heads repeatedly at a very high frequency. The frequency was higher than the North American bee so the blue bee visited more flowers. However, the Australian bee came back several times to the same flower to give it another go.

Overall, the blue-banded bee is a more efficient pollinator. If used by growers it could potentially produce more fruit and vegetable.
◆ Biology by Ty Buchanan ◆
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Caterpillars Are Changing into Butterflies Earler

Climate change is making butterflies more active. They are coming out 10 days earlier than they used to in spring. The change has been caused by a 0.91ºC increase in temperature in Melbourne. All species that interrelate with the Common Brown butterfly (Heteronymph Merope) breed earlier as well.

A group of academics funded by the Australian Research Council has researched this issue. Members of the group studied caterpillars bred at the old and new temperature in the laboratory and noted the change. Observation of the butterfly in the wild has confirmed that caterpillars are changing into butterflies earlier.

If butterflies are coming out sooner then other insects must be doing so as well. This means that crops will have to be planted earlier to be fertilized by insects. Bees are not the only insects needed to grow crops.  People in cities do not understand the importance of pollination on food crops.
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Entomology
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Caterpillars Are Changing into Butterflies Earler

Climate change is making butterflies more violent. They are coming out 10 days earlier than they used to in spring. The change has been caused by a 0.91ºC increase in temperature in Melbourne. All species that interrelate with the Common Brown butterfly (Heteronymph Merope) breed earlier as well.

A group of academics funded by the Australian Research Council has researched this issue. Members of the group studied caterpillars bred at the old and new temperature in the laboratory and noted the changed. Observation of the butterfly in the wild has confirmed that caterpillars are changing into butterflies earlier.

If butterflies are coming out sooner then other insects must doing this as well. This means that crops will have to be planted earlier in to be fertilized by insects. People in cities do not understand the importance of pollination on food crops.
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