#nectar-gap

#nectar-gap

A study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley has found that ethanol is surprisingly common in floral nectar, the sugary fuel that keeps pollinators alive. Yeast feeding on those sugars produces trace amounts of alcohol, and in this study, it showed up in 26 of the 29 plant species sampled.

Individuals allergic to bee stings can safely consume honey because the venom produced by bees is not related to honey. The venom is injected through the stinger, while honey is produced from nectar.

The fireflies were most likely to change their own flashing rhythm in response when the LED blinked almost, but not quite, at the same time as the fireflies. The males would speed up their next flash if the LED blinked just before and waited a bit longer for their next flash when the LED blinked right after.

This study started from a discussion with my co-author and postdoctoral researcher, Sabrina Rondeau, whose recent findings showed that these queens can survive submersion for over a week, which is extraordinary for a terrestrial insect. We wanted to understand how that's even possible.

Around a third of UK gardeners use pesticides, and our studies found that house sparrow numbers, for example, were nearly 40% lower in gardens where the pesticide metaldehyde was used. By reducing pesticide use, you can actively encourage birds back into your outdoor spaces, as they rely on invertebrates such as slugs and snails as natural prey.

An unnamed tourist saw it and told Aidan Moore, who works for Alcatraz City Cruises. Moore told SFGATE that he was initially skeptical, but the guest's iPhone footage left little room for doubt. The video shows, not a sea lion or an otter, but an actual Canis latrans, doggedly dogpaddling, then clambering out of the water, noticeably shaky and struggling to settle tired paws on the craggy rocks.

For its fifth anniversary, 'Secrets of' turns its lens to one of Earth's smallest yet most vital heroes: bees. Far more than pollinators, bees are socially complex, fast-thinking individuals and the most important insects on our planet. Their impact on the natural world and humanity is immeasurable, and we're only just beginning to see how extraordinary they truly are.

First came the heavy winter rains that soaked the soil. Then, the sunny weather not too hot, but just warm enough to fuel the growth. A few more winter rainfalls and Southern California could be ripe for an epic wildflower season in the coming weeks and months. And when they bloom the vibrant colors popping from rolling hills as far as the eye can see thousands of people are bound to seek out their beauty, if past years are any indication.

These caterpillars use a surprisingly complex rhythm like a secret knock to convince the ants to come fetch them. That's according to research published on February 25 in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, which found that caterpillars can keep a beat called double meter that has so far been identified only in a couple of primates.

Biodiversity loss is continuing at an unprecedented rate, with species becoming extinct at between 100 and 1,000 times the average pre-human, or 'background', rate. Human activities are the main cause. Although there are hundreds of local, regional and international initiatives to conserve and sustainably use species and ecosystems, many conservation scientists worry that measures such as interventions to conserve individual species or incentives to create protected areas are not supported by strong evidence from research.

It was previously thought that tropical regions where temperatures fluctuate less over the course of the year would not be so affected by the climate crisis in terms of the timing of flowering. This hypothesis has been proved wrong, said the lead researcher Skylar Graves from the University of Colorado Boulder, who added that nowhere on Earth is unaffected by climate change.