News tagged with orchid bees

Bees outpace orchids in evolution

(PhysOrg.com) -- Orchid bees aren’t so dependent on orchids after all, according to a new study that challenges the prevailing view of how plants and their insect pollinators evolve together.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Wealth of orchid varieties is down to busy bees and helpful fungi, says study

Scientists have discovered why orchids are one of the most successful groups of flowering plants - it is all down to their relationships with the bees that pollinate them and the fungi that nourish them. The ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 31, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First radio tracking of tropical orchid bees

Blue-green orchid bees zip through increasingly scarce patches of tropical forest pollinating rare flowers. For the first time, researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute track unique signals ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 26, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Breeding orchid species creates a new perfume

Some orchids mimic the scent of a female insect in order to attract males for pollination. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology found that breeding two of these orchid specie ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 21, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

The evolution of orchids

(PhysOrg.com) -- Charles Darwin and many other scientists have long been puzzled by the evolution of orchids, the largest and most diverse family of flowering plants on Earth. Now genetic sequencing is giving ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 4 weblog

Trading energy for safety, bees extend legs to stay stable in wind

New research shows some bees brace themselves against wind and turbulence by extending their sturdy hind legs while flying. But this approach comes at a steep cost, increasing aerodynamic drag and the power ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 02, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0