Plant-pollinator-interactions

Pollinators’ backpack: secrets of the pollen they carry

Mar 13, 2026

Interactions, Pollination

Bee-flies, Bumblebees, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Megachilidae, Plant-pollinator-interactions, Pollen-loads, Pollinators

Imagine you’re a tiny grain of pollen riding on the back of a bumblebee. Your mission is to reach another flower so you can help complete the process of pollination. You’re not alone, about 500 other pollen grains are traveling right beside you, and all of you are competing to reach the flower first. How…
The sneaky flower: floral deception of a pollinating beetle

Feb 26, 2025

Chemical ecology, Pollination

Behaviour, Coleoptera, Floral-deception, Oviposition, Plant-pollinator-interactions

Original article: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2745.14446 When we think of pollination, we picture a beneficial relationship between plant and pollinator: one gains sweet nectar and protein-rich pollen, the other can reproduce and spread their population. Everyone’s happy. But it isn’t always this straightforward: the world of pollination is full of tricksters. Many plants can deceive pollinators into spreading…