Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Some flowers have patterns, called nectar guides, that show pollinators where to look for nectar; they may be visible only under ultraviolet light, which is visible to bees and some other insects. [65] Flowers also attract pollinators by scent, though not all flower scents are appealing to humans; several flowers are pollinated by insects that ...
Pollination of flowering plants by insects including bees, butterflies, flies, and beetles, is economically important. [162] The value of insect pollination of crops and fruit trees was estimated in 2021 to be about $34 billion in the US alone. [163] Insects produce useful substances such as honey, [164] wax, [165] [166] lacquer [167] and silk ...
Types of fruits are described and defined elsewhere (see Fruit), but would include "fruit" in a culinary sense, as well as some nut-bearing trees, such as walnuts. [1] The scientific study and the cultivation of fruits is called pomology, which divides fruits into groups based on plant morphology and anatomy.
The word "flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. [5] [6] The technical term "flora" is then derived from a metonymy of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning ...
Examples include the date of emergence of leaves and flowers, the first flight of butterflies, the first appearance of migratory birds, the date of leaf colouring and fall in deciduous trees, the dates of egg-laying of birds and amphibia, or the timing of the developmental cycles of temperate-zone honey bee colonies.
This relationship can be seen in other species of flowering plants and pollinating insects, but a more distinct example is the coevolution of ants and acacias. The acacia ant (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) is an insect that has been discovered to protect five different species of acacia trees. The ant provides protection to the plant while the ...
Between 950,000–1,000,000 of all described animal species are considered insects, so over 50% of all described eukaryotes (1.8 million species) are insects (see illustration). With only 950,000 known non-insects, if the actual total number of insects is 5.5 million, they may represent over 80% of the total, and with only about 20,000 new ...
Plants fall into pollination syndromes that reflect the type of pollinator being attracted. These are characteristics such as: overall flower size, the depth and width of the corolla, the color (including patterns called nectar guides that are visible only in ultraviolet light), the scent, amount of nectar, composition of nectar, etc. [2] For example, birds visit red flowers with long, narrow ...