the blue halo effect how some flowers seduce bees
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

The 'blue halo' effect: How some flowers seduce bees

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today The 'blue halo' effect: How some flowers seduce bees

Hundreds of flower species have evolved in order to attract pollinating bees.
Paris - Arab Today

Hundreds of flower species have evolved the ability to project ethereal halos of blue light invisible to humans in order to lure pollinating bees, researchers revealed Wednesday.

In laboratory experiments, bumblebees were drawn to synthetic flowers designed to generate the same kind of ultraviolent rings, they reported in the journal Nature.

"The effect occurs in the ultraviolent part of the optical spectrum that we cannot see," co-author Ullrich Steiner, a researcher at the Adolphe Merkle Institute in Fribourg, Switzerland, told AFP.

"But bees can."

Researchers were surprised by the results.

To start with, the nano-scale plant architecture -- arranged like packets of dry spaghetti -- producing these blue halos appears haphazard, and varies significantly from flower to flower.

"We had always assumed that the disorder we saw in our petal surfaces was just an accidental by-product of life -- that flowers couldn't do any better," said senior author Beverly Glover, director of the Botanical Gardens at the University of Cambridge.

"But the disorder we see in petal nanostructure appears to have been harnessed by evolution and ends up aiding floral communication with bees."

Flowering plants and insects began their pas-de-deux more than 100 million years ago.

In animals, the hard-wired drive to produce offspring works through sexual attraction. But plants, rooted in the ground, had to find another strategy to reproduce.

They needed middlemen.

- Mystery solved -

Enter the birds and the bees, along with the wind and any vehicle that might transport pollen from one flower to another.

Previous studies have shown that bees in search of nectar-giving plants are attracted to odours, but take most of their cues from colours and petal shapes.

Bees are especially sensitive to the band of colours on the light spectrum where blue graduates into ultraviolent.

Somehow, some plants are genetically programmed to "know" this.

And yet, paradoxically, blue is a relatively uncommon colour in flowers.

"Many flowers lack the genetic and biochemical capability to manipulate pigment chemistry into the blue-to-ultraviolent spectrum," said co-author Silvia Vignolini, a biochemist from the University of Cambridge.

So arranging the molecules in petals so that reflected sunlight will produce a blue halo emerged as an alternative evolutionary strategy to attract pollinators.

Remarkably, otherwise divergent species wound up with the same lure.

"Our findings suggest the petal ridges that produce 'blue halos' evolved many times across different flower lineages, all converging on this optical signal for pollinators," said Glover.

Scientists not involved in the study said it answered some long lingering questions.

"The data provide comprehensive evidence that the blue halo is the key visual signal that attracts bees," said Dimitri Deheyn, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego.

"A mystery has been resolved," he commented in the journal Nature.

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

GMT 03:35 2017 Saturday ,16 December

Year 2015 becomes the warmest on record

GMT 01:18 2017 Thursday ,14 December

It’s the hottest in 115,000 years

GMT 15:12 2017 Wednesday ,08 November

Trump 'not invited' to Paris climate summit

GMT 11:42 2017 Tuesday ,07 November

Rich nations far behind on $100 bn climate pledge

GMT 00:45 2017 Saturday ,21 October

Puppy eyes: The tail wagging the dog?
Arab Today, arab today

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

the blue halo effect how some flowers seduce bees the blue halo effect how some flowers seduce bees

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

the blue halo effect how some flowers seduce bees the blue halo effect how some flowers seduce bees

 



GMT 23:45 2017 Tuesday ,17 October

Kerry calls for Syrian, Arab ground troops against IS

GMT 03:38 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Somalia's new president names 26-minister cabinet

GMT 19:39 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

Gatland eyes New Zealand rugby jobs after Wales

GMT 12:08 2017 Saturday ,16 September

Dutch 360-degree beachfront painting gets public facelift

GMT 05:16 2016 Wednesday ,15 June

Scientists use underwater robots

GMT 02:41 2017 Sunday ,16 April

Pentagon confirms DPRK missile launch fails

GMT 18:00 2011 Thursday ,12 May

Attack on Celtic manager sparks inquiry

GMT 10:40 2017 Saturday ,30 September

Trump says to decide Fed chair in 2, 3 weeks

GMT 01:10 2017 Monday ,10 July

Islamic social media to be launched by year end

GMT 13:17 2016 Monday ,08 February

Russia shuts down 2 more banks

GMT 07:19 2017 Sunday ,31 December

Nepal bans solo climbers from Everest

GMT 10:48 2014 Saturday ,22 March

Parata launches new digital education portal

GMT 17:47 2017 Tuesday ,18 April

Saudi Shoura member in favor of women driving

GMT 19:07 2011 Tuesday ,19 April

Electric cars: night-time charging better

GMT 19:48 2017 Wednesday ,01 March

5 facebook accounts closed over provocative posts

GMT 22:42 2017 Sunday ,08 January

UAE’s first nuclear plant is 75 per cent complete

GMT 11:11 2017 Friday ,25 August

Bahrain-Korea ties praised

GMT 09:04 2017 Thursday ,23 March

Qatari Chief Justice Meets Turkish Official

GMT 04:43 2017 Tuesday ,04 April

‘Baby’ beats ‘Beauty’ in box-office battle

GMT 06:33 2017 Monday ,20 February

Participates in a workshop on Babylon

GMT 13:43 2017 Monday ,01 May

Survivor of Oman bus crash recalls ordeal

GMT 13:22 2017 Thursday ,16 March

Two Russian spies indicted in massive Yahoo hack
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday