How insect eating plants persuade insects to pollinate them
Posted by
Karen
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There have been quite a few articles about carnivorous plants just recently, and this one caught my eye. It’s courtesy of the BBC Earth website, and I’ve linked this post to the original one.
Enjoy.
Karen
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in and only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win and I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
********
"It's common to analyse plant volatiles, so it's quite amazing that nobody has tested Darwin's hypothesis," says chemical ecologist Ashraf El-Sayed at the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited.
Studying sundews in New Zealand, El-Sayed's team found that one species, Drosera auriculata, uses smells to lure prey. Their leaves emit volatiles that beckon gnats, midges and mosquitoes.
"I was working on lure-and-kill tactics in pest management when I realised that wow, carnivorous plants have been at it for a very long time," says El-Sayed.
Carnivory evolved independently at least six times across the plant kingdom. Carnivorous plants live in places like bogs and rocky slopes where the soil – if there is any – is so nutrient-poor that few plants can survive. Carnivorous plants eke out a living here because they converged on the same solution to the nutrient problem: animals are nutritious, so eat them.
But the path to meat-eating is costly. As plants transform their leaves into traps that can trick, bind, drown, and digest prey, they gradually become less effective for harnessing sunlight to produce energy. Therefore, most carnivorous plants grow slowly and stay small.
Beyond that carnivorous plants face a more profound problem: sex.
Like many plants, carnivorous plants produce flowers when they are ready to reproduce. Most of these flowers appear suitable for insect-pollination – again, in keeping with many plants.
The trouble is that many carnivorous plants trap and kill insects. They are faced with a unique dilemma called "pollinator-prey conflict": they need to eat insects without jeopardising their chances of being pollinated by insects.
For example, a carnivorous plant from Spain called Pinguicula vallisneriifolia could produce more seeds if its flowers receive more pollinators. But sticky leaves mere inches away from the flowers kill a good number of those pollinators.
The carnivorous plant's challenge is to avoid confusing the insects it needs to eat with the insects it relies on for pollination. Studies suggest that most carnivorous plants handle this challenge very well.
There is often very little overlap between the insects visiting flowers and those dying in traps.
Somehow, carnivorous plants can separate pollinators from prey.
The most obvious way to protect pollinators is to keep flowers away from traps. Some carnivorous plants do this by making sure their flowers bloom and die before the traps open. A field survey of 560 Sarracenia alata pitcher plants found only five with flowers and pitchers active at the same time.
There is another option. One-third of carnivorous plants have removed all risks of pollinator-prey conflict by growing their traps underwater and keeping their flowers above ground. Many carnivorous plants also raise their flowers on long stalks. Some researchers speculate that long stalks serve to distance pollinators from traps.
But the role of long stalks in protecting pollinators remains debated. Some plants extend their flowers on stalks even though pollinators cannot reach their traps: bladderworts (Utricularia), for instance, have stalked flowers despite the fact that their traps lie underground.
Furthermore, a survey of more than 50 sundew species } found that plants closer to ground grow longer stalks than those higher up. Some scientists argue that carnivorous plants evolve long stalks to better attract flying pollinators rather than to better protect them.
Whether or not their flowers are far from traps, many carnivorous plants seem to spare their pollinators. This suggests that the plants have another way to mitigate pollinator-prey conflict.
We studied three sundew species with different distances between flowers and sticky leaves," says El-Sayed.
The sundews were lethal – less than 20% of insects caught on leaves escaped. But in all three species, less than 5% of insects caught on leaves were also found in flowers.
"We suspected that the plants might be using other cues to guide the insects," says El-Sayed.
El-Sayed found that Drosera auriculata – the species whose flowers grow closest to its leaves – has flowers that smell distinct from its leaves.
El-Sayed then exposed insects to synthetic blends of these odours. He found that flower odours attract floral visitors – insect pollinators – while leaf odours deter them. Only insects that the sundews usually eat are attracted by the leaf odours.
This means D. auriculata is the first carnivorous plant known to use odours both to lure prey and protect pollinators.
However, the other two sundews in El-Sayed's study, D. spatulata and D. arcturi, have scentless sticky leaves and flowers that grow further apart. Floral visitors prefer the white colour of flowers, while prey do not discriminate between flower and trap colours.
So instead of smells, D. spatulata and D. arcturi use visual signals and separation to protect pollinators.
"D. spatulata and D. arcturi grow in open sites. Their flowers are often the highest points around," says El-Sayed. Potential pollinators flying by would likely find the flowers easily even without odours. "Investing in odours to guide pollinators would not be cost-effective in these sundews."
El-Sayed hopes that the discovery of carnivorous plant odours will stimulate new research and applications for the chemicals.
His team has now begun studying a pitcher plant that emits even more complex and distinct smells than those he found studying sundews. "Who knows? Some of these chemicals might help us manage pests," he says.
Carnivorous plants so captivated Darwin that he called them "the most wonderful plants in the world". After tens of millions of years of juggling hunger and sex, these wonderful plants have evolved into effective and selective killers. Their adaptations could well be a treasure vault that we have just begun to unlock.
Enjoy.
Karen
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in and only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win and I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
********
Eating insects makes good evolutionary sense for plants
living in barren soil with few nutrients. But how do the plants avoid eating
the insect pollinators they rely on to reproduce?
· By Yao-Hua Law
11
October 2016
Grubs gnaw roots, maggots munch fruits and caterpillars chew
leaves. In textbook food chains, animals eat plants, not the other way round.
Life for a carnivorous plant is challenging. They cannot
very well march across the landscape in search of a meal. Dinner has to come to
them. The plants have evolved sticky leaves, water pots and the like to catch
animals, but how – if at all – do they lure their prey into these traps?
A study published in February 2016 shows for the first time that some carnivorous plants use
smells to secure meals – validating an idea that Charles Darwin suggested 140
years ago.
 |
| Drosera spatulata. Pollinators are guided to the flowers by visual cues, and protected from the traps by spatial separation (Credit: Ashraf El-Sayed) |
Studying sundews in New Zealand, El-Sayed's team found that one species, Drosera auriculata, uses smells to lure prey. Their leaves emit volatiles that beckon gnats, midges and mosquitoes.
"I was working on lure-and-kill tactics in pest management when I realised that wow, carnivorous plants have been at it for a very long time," says El-Sayed.
Carnivorous plants face a more profound problem: sex
Carnivory evolved independently at least six times across the plant kingdom. Carnivorous plants live in places like bogs and rocky slopes where the soil – if there is any – is so nutrient-poor that few plants can survive. Carnivorous plants eke out a living here because they converged on the same solution to the nutrient problem: animals are nutritious, so eat them.
But the path to meat-eating is costly. As plants transform their leaves into traps that can trick, bind, drown, and digest prey, they gradually become less effective for harnessing sunlight to produce energy. Therefore, most carnivorous plants grow slowly and stay small.
Beyond that carnivorous plants face a more profound problem: sex.
 |
| Drosera arcturi (Credit: Andreas Jürgens) |
Like many plants, carnivorous plants produce flowers when they are ready to reproduce. Most of these flowers appear suitable for insect-pollination – again, in keeping with many plants.
The trouble is that many carnivorous plants trap and kill insects. They are faced with a unique dilemma called "pollinator-prey conflict": they need to eat insects without jeopardising their chances of being pollinated by insects.
The most obvious way to protect pollinators is to keep flowers away from traps
For example, a carnivorous plant from Spain called Pinguicula vallisneriifolia could produce more seeds if its flowers receive more pollinators. But sticky leaves mere inches away from the flowers kill a good number of those pollinators.
The carnivorous plant's challenge is to avoid confusing the insects it needs to eat with the insects it relies on for pollination. Studies suggest that most carnivorous plants handle this challenge very well.
There is often very little overlap between the insects visiting flowers and those dying in traps.
Somehow, carnivorous plants can separate pollinators from prey.
 |
| A yellow pitcher plant (Sarracenia alata) (Credit: John Abbott/naturepl.com) |
Many carnivorous plants seem to spare their pollinators
There is another option. One-third of carnivorous plants have removed all risks of pollinator-prey conflict by growing their traps underwater and keeping their flowers above ground. Many carnivorous plants also raise their flowers on long stalks. Some researchers speculate that long stalks serve to distance pollinators from traps.
But the role of long stalks in protecting pollinators remains debated. Some plants extend their flowers on stalks even though pollinators cannot reach their traps: bladderworts (Utricularia), for instance, have stalked flowers despite the fact that their traps lie underground.
Furthermore, a survey of more than 50 sundew species } found that plants closer to ground grow longer stalks than those higher up. Some scientists argue that carnivorous plants evolve long stalks to better attract flying pollinators rather than to better protect them.
 |
| A greater bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris) (Credit: Ingo Arndt/naturepl.com) |
Whether or not their flowers are far from traps, many carnivorous plants seem to spare their pollinators. This suggests that the plants have another way to mitigate pollinator-prey conflict.
We suspected that the plants might be using other cues to guide the insects
We studied three sundew species with different distances between flowers and sticky leaves," says El-Sayed.
The sundews were lethal – less than 20% of insects caught on leaves escaped. But in all three species, less than 5% of insects caught on leaves were also found in flowers.
"We suspected that the plants might be using other cues to guide the insects," says El-Sayed.
El-Sayed found that Drosera auriculata – the species whose flowers grow closest to its leaves – has flowers that smell distinct from its leaves.
El-Sayed then exposed insects to synthetic blends of these odours. He found that flower odours attract floral visitors – insect pollinators – while leaf odours deter them. Only insects that the sundews usually eat are attracted by the leaf odours.
Some of these chemicals might help us manage pests
This means D. auriculata is the first carnivorous plant known to use odours both to lure prey and protect pollinators.
However, the other two sundews in El-Sayed's study, D. spatulata and D. arcturi, have scentless sticky leaves and flowers that grow further apart. Floral visitors prefer the white colour of flowers, while prey do not discriminate between flower and trap colours.
So instead of smells, D. spatulata and D. arcturi use visual signals and separation to protect pollinators.
 |
| Drosera auriculata. The flower and trap emit different odours, guiding pollinators safely to the flower (Credit: Friends of Black Hill/Morialta Inc) |
"D. spatulata and D. arcturi grow in open sites. Their flowers are often the highest points around," says El-Sayed. Potential pollinators flying by would likely find the flowers easily even without odours. "Investing in odours to guide pollinators would not be cost-effective in these sundews."
D. auriculata is the first carnivorous plant known to use odours both to lure prey and protect pollinators
El-Sayed hopes that the discovery of carnivorous plant odours will stimulate new research and applications for the chemicals.
His team has now begun studying a pitcher plant that emits even more complex and distinct smells than those he found studying sundews. "Who knows? Some of these chemicals might help us manage pests," he says.
Carnivorous plants so captivated Darwin that he called them "the most wonderful plants in the world". After tens of millions of years of juggling hunger and sex, these wonderful plants have evolved into effective and selective killers. Their adaptations could well be a treasure vault that we have just begun to unlock.
Bringing petrol to the (wealthy) people
Posted by
Karen
comments (0)
Sometimes, I wonder if the BBC publishes things for a joke, but reading it further, I realise it's serious.
See what you think of this....
Karen
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in and only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win and I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
********************
Bentley Motors has commenced trials of a smartphone-powered fuel-delivery service that promises to ease the burden for those too posh to pump.
• By David K Gibson
5 October 2016
There are millions of people who have considered purchasing a Bentley. The vast majority of them have decided against it after discovering that the vehicles require regular injections of a noxious and combustible substance known as “petrol” (street names: gasolina, hi-test, Slurpee). Worse, this petrol must be procured from specialised dispensing stations, most of which lurk beneath freeway flyovers and in rough parts of town.
But Continental considerers may reach once again for their chequebooks, thanks to this week’s announcement of an on-demand fuel-delivery service. Rather than sully their tyres on the macadam of a BP drive-through, Bentley owners may now use a smartphone app to notify “Filld for Bentley” that their automobile requires a bit of that nasty stuff and have it delivered to the bemarbled cul-de-sacs of their vast estates. A truck of petrol will arrive at the appointed time, zeroing in on the car’s location and unlocking its fuel cap, and then dispense only the highest quality petrochemicals (garnished with an artisan Bourbon-cardamom cherry*) into the awaiting tank. The service will roll out first in California, because where else would an on-demand fuel-delivery startup start up?
Filld for Bentley is a part of the marque’s Connected Car initiative, a suite of technologies that makes the vehicles part of the Internet of (very expensive) Things. The goal, according to Christophe Georges, Bentley’s Director of Product and Marketing, is to provide Bentley owners with “the greatest luxury of all: more time.” Further advances of the fuel delivery service may include predictive fuel ordering, in which your car will autonomously call Filld to arrange a discreet pump, meaning that you, Bentley owner, need never think about stopping for gas again. And for an extra monthly fee, Filld will even place a paint-matched silicone disk over your Mullsanne’s fuel cap,* so you need never be reminded of the existence of petrol.
This is clearly a valuable service, one that is not ridiculous in any way, but — as habitual contrarians — we feel that we must raise some thorny issues.
Is not the whole point of having an amazing car to drive it to places where there are guaranteed to be other, lesser cars?
• Does Filld charge for the petrol that their delivery trucks burn getting to your Bentley? And do you have to tip for that, too?
• Where will the wealthy procure their Slim Jims? (Note to self: Pitch investors on Jerx, the Uber of desiccated meat product delivery services.)
• How will we monitor the health of Demi Lovato without regular paparazzi shots of her filling up her Bentayga?
We are confident that the engineers of Bentley Motors are hard at work on those problems.
*These features have not been specifically announced, but may be reasonably inferred.
See what you think of this....
Karen
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in and only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win and I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
********************
Bentley Motors has commenced trials of a smartphone-powered fuel-delivery service that promises to ease the burden for those too posh to pump.
• By David K Gibson
5 October 2016
There are millions of people who have considered purchasing a Bentley. The vast majority of them have decided against it after discovering that the vehicles require regular injections of a noxious and combustible substance known as “petrol” (street names: gasolina, hi-test, Slurpee). Worse, this petrol must be procured from specialised dispensing stations, most of which lurk beneath freeway flyovers and in rough parts of town.
But Continental considerers may reach once again for their chequebooks, thanks to this week’s announcement of an on-demand fuel-delivery service. Rather than sully their tyres on the macadam of a BP drive-through, Bentley owners may now use a smartphone app to notify “Filld for Bentley” that their automobile requires a bit of that nasty stuff and have it delivered to the bemarbled cul-de-sacs of their vast estates. A truck of petrol will arrive at the appointed time, zeroing in on the car’s location and unlocking its fuel cap, and then dispense only the highest quality petrochemicals (garnished with an artisan Bourbon-cardamom cherry*) into the awaiting tank. The service will roll out first in California, because where else would an on-demand fuel-delivery startup start up?
The service will roll out first in California, because where else would an on-demand fuel-delivery startup start up?
Filld for Bentley is a part of the marque’s Connected Car initiative, a suite of technologies that makes the vehicles part of the Internet of (very expensive) Things. The goal, according to Christophe Georges, Bentley’s Director of Product and Marketing, is to provide Bentley owners with “the greatest luxury of all: more time.” Further advances of the fuel delivery service may include predictive fuel ordering, in which your car will autonomously call Filld to arrange a discreet pump, meaning that you, Bentley owner, need never think about stopping for gas again. And for an extra monthly fee, Filld will even place a paint-matched silicone disk over your Mullsanne’s fuel cap,* so you need never be reminded of the existence of petrol.
This is clearly a valuable service, one that is not ridiculous in any way, but — as habitual contrarians — we feel that we must raise some thorny issues.
Is not the whole point of having an amazing car to drive it to places where there are guaranteed to be other, lesser cars?
• Does Filld charge for the petrol that their delivery trucks burn getting to your Bentley? And do you have to tip for that, too?
• Where will the wealthy procure their Slim Jims? (Note to self: Pitch investors on Jerx, the Uber of desiccated meat product delivery services.)
• How will we monitor the health of Demi Lovato without regular paparazzi shots of her filling up her Bentayga?
We are confident that the engineers of Bentley Motors are hard at work on those problems.
*These features have not been specifically announced, but may be reasonably inferred.
This says it all.
Posted by
Karen
comments (0)
This was sent to me by an old friend of my father's - and no words are necessary.
Karen
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in and only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win and I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
 |
Karen
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in and only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win and I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
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