Category: Plants & Animals
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Bees As Floral Designers
Bee found in the Middle East constructs its nests from petals, creating chambers of pink, yellow, blue, and purple for its larvae.
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The Trees That Miss The Mammoths
Trees that make such fleshy fruits do so to entice animals to eat them, along with the seeds they contain. The seeds pass through the animal and are deposited, with natural fertilizer, away from the shade and roots of the parent tree where they are more likely to germinate. But no native animal eats Osage-orange fruits. So, what are they for? The same question could be asked of the large seed pods of the honeylocust and the Kentucky coffeetree.
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Can Pollinators Be More Trouble Than They Are Worth?
But pollinating hawkmoths often lay their eggs on the plants they visit and the voracious caterpillars start eating the plants. Fortunately for the (Nicotiana) plant, it has a back-up plan.
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When Mutualism Isn’t Mutual, Part 2
Wasps do not always pollinate the fig. Fig trees “punish” these “cheaters” by dropping unpollinated fruit, killing the wasp's offspring inside.
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The Cricket That Likes Orchids
A new species of cricket has been caught on camera – and its bizarre behaviour has surprised scientists. Far from living up to the cricket's plant-destroying reputation, this species lends a helping hand to flora by acting as a pollinator.
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The Sea Slug That Is Animal And Plant
It‘s easy being green for a sea slug that has stolen enough genes to become the first animal shown to make chlorophyll like a plant.
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Acacias That Entice Ants Know When To Repel Them, Too
The plants with the closest relationships with ants — those that provided homes for their miniature guard army — produced the chemicals that were most effective at keeping the ants at bay.
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What Street Trees Can Do
Urban forests have a role to play in reducing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. Urban trees reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) through sequestration and reducing GHG emissions by conserving energy used for space heating and cooling.
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Flies Get The Hots For Daisies With Spots
The spots on the flowers mimic the plant's pollinator, a small fly, which is attracted to the plant because of the spots.
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Add Tomatoes and Petunias To List Of Carnivorous Plants
We may be surrounded by many more murderous plants than we think.