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 ...

Through pollination and feeding on all parts of plants, insects influence which plants thrive, which struggle, and even ...

Long before flowers dazzled pollinators with brilliant colors and sweet scents, ancient plants used another feature to signal insects: heat. The findings, based on an analysis of the biology and ...

We tend to think of plants as passive, vulnerable actors. But in their partnership with insects, it’s plants that often play the leading role. Sometimes, this can get pretty surprising. As evening ...

Ancient plants called cycads say “come hither” in infrared. By Sofia Quaglia If a plant wants to reproduce, there are a number of tricks it can use to lure a pollinator insect. It can display gaudily ...

A telltale hint was on the bee’s knees. An analysis of 127 fossil flowers, flower buds and bees from central Germany revealed pollen particles that precisely matched ancient flowers to their ...

For the first time, scientists have documented a plant that mimics the smell of injured ants to attract pollinators. A dogbane species native to Japan, releases chemical compounds that match the odor ...