Mastodawn

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) flower in the female phase, with anthers still packed into a ball that looks like an osage orange. Mostly pollinated by beetles and flies attracted to the unpleasant odor. I'm hoping for fruit this year. #pawpaw #fruit #botany #flowers #tree #nature #pollination #annonaceae #gardening

KillBait UK 🇬🇧2d ago

The Role of Bees in Supporting a Diverse Range of Species

📰 Original title: Eaten, used as taxis and vomited up: how bees support other animals

🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️

View full AI summary: https://en.killbait.com/the-role-of-bees-in-supporting-a-diverse-range-of-species.html?utm_source=mastodon_social&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait_uk.mastodon_social

#environment #bees #ecology #pollination

The Role of Bees in Supporting a Diverse Range of Species

Bees are widely recognised for their essential role in pollinating crops and wild plants, but their influence extends far beyond this. They support a complex web of other organisms, acting as prey, hosts, or even unwitting transport for a variety of species. Predators such as bee wolves, crab spiders, birds like bee-eaters, and mammals including badgers and foxes rely on bees or their nests for nourishment. Parasites, such as the bee louse and nematodes like Sphaerularia bombi, exploit bees for survival, sometimes incapacitating or killing them. Other insects, including cuckoo bees and Strepsiptera, invade bee colonies or bodies, often resulting in the death of the host. Some species, like bee flies and blister beetle larvae, use bees as a vehicle to reach nests and consume eggs or larvae, while pseudoscorpions and certain mites hitch rides to conserve energy or spread between colonies. This intricate network of interactions demonstrates that bees are far more than pollinators. They are integral to the survival of numerous species, providing food, transport, and habitat. The loss of bees would not only impact plant reproduction but also disrupt these interconnected ecological relationships, highlighting their indispensable role in maintaining biodiversity.

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Annals of Botany 3d ago

🌱 The findings suggest that bees mainly make decisions flower by flower, rather than evaluating the plant as a whole. This behaviour may help plants “buffer” the effects of uneven pollen rewards among their flowers. (9/9)

👉 https://doi.org/q6hr

#PlantScience #Pollination #BeeBehavior #PollinatorEcology #Botany

Intra-individual variation in pollen availability: an experimental analysis of its impact on plant–pollinator interactions

AbstractBackground and Aims. Intra-individual variation in the quantity and quality of floral rewards can affect pollinator foraging and plant fitness. Few

OUP Academic

Annals of Botany 3d ago

🎉 Good news! The paper ‘Intra-individual variation in pollen availability: an experimental analysis of its impact on plant–pollinator interactions’ in @AnnBot by Fernando González-Almansa Laredo and co-authors is now #free for 2 weeks 🧵(1/9)

👉 https://doi.org/q6hr

#PlantScience #Pollination #BeeBehavior #PollinatorEcology #Botany

gimulnautti May 10

Promising buds on the apple tree. Let’s hope for a good pollinator season, too! #apples #pollination #fruit

N-gated Hacker News May 4

Ah, just what the internet needed: a #database for #apples 🍏🍎! Because, clearly, the world was paralyzed without knowing the pollinization properties of their favorite Granny Smiths. Advanced search tools for apples—finally, the #tech #breakthrough we were all waiting for! 🙄🚀
https://pomiferous.com/ #pollination #GrannySmiths #internetinnovation #HackerNews #ngated

Pomiferous home

The worlds most extensive apples website

Colin Purrington May 3

The rumors are true — Houdini flies are extremely fond of cheap malbec. Blog post forthcoming with tips on trap design, but if you have an insect hotel and want to kill these kleptoparasites, go get yourself a bottle ASAP. #InsectHotel #BeeHotel #bees #flies #osmia #wine #insects #malbec #pollination