Insect-pollination of flowering plants is responsible for the majority of the world’s flowering diversity and is an essential part of plant reproduction. Flowers have bright colours, smells and ...

Nocturnal insects are easily distracted from their pollination duties by the lure of bright lights. Fruit begins with a flower, but not every flower results in a fruit. A number of factors result ...

In the instances at left, the violet flowers gain the benefits of genetic diversity via insect pollination as well as of being able to grow outside of insect pollinators' range via self-pollination.

Once fully pollinated, the ovules are fertilized and the ovary develops into a fruit. It can take many insect visits for a flower to be fully pollinated. For example, cucumbers need nine visits.

Generally we think of flowers as offering food to the insects that pollinate them. Evolution has produced many flower species that pretend to have food that insects want, emitting scents of ...

transferring pollen from the male to the female parts of the same plant. The late spider orchid however is pollinated solely by sexual deception involving insects, which means the flower is a much ...