pollination by insects

Readers learn that the stink of the corpse flower has everything to do with a main subject of the science curriculum: pollination.

Butterflies are the rock stars of the insect world. They are beautiful. They glide through the air, looking elegant and regal. Photographers like to snap pictures of them. The press gives special coverage to the famous Monarch butterfly. Butterflies are adored by all. These flying insects play an important role in the life cycle of plants. They are pollinators, and many are native to America. Butterflies help plants to grow many of the flowers you love to see and smell. Native Pollinators Butterflies is a good place to start learning about these magnificent insects.

"How long does it take for science to find an answer to a problem? On January 25, 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids. One flower, the Madagascar star orchid, fascinated him. It had an 11.5" nectary, the place where flowers make nectar, the sweet liquid that insects and birds eat. How, he wondered, did insects pollinate the orchid? It took 130 years to find the answer. After experiments, he made a prediction. There must be a giant moth with a 11.5" proboscis, a straw-like tongue. Darwin died without ever seeing the moth, which was catalogued by entomologists in 1903. But still no one had actually observed the moth pollinating the orchid. In 1992, German entomologist, Lutz Thilo Wasserthal, Ph.D. traveled to Madagascar. By then, the moths were rare. He managed to capture two moths and released them in a cage with the orchid. He captured the first photo of the moth pollinating the flower, as Darwin had predicted 130 years before"--Provided by the publisher.

Focusing on the value of biodiversity and preservation, this book explains what would happen to a grassland ecosystem if bees disappeared.

Discusses nectar-eating animals, including ants, flies, bats, tropical sunbirds, honey possums, and lemurs and emphasizes their role in the pollination of flowering plants.

Examines the nature and function of flower colors and explains their role in attracting animal pollinators to help the plants reproduce.

Describes the relationship between insects that eat plant nectar and the flowers that benefit from their aid in pollination.