Breaking the Rules: Pollen Thieves!

Sunday 19 March 2017

This is a pretty amazing animation which shows that nature was many millions of years ahead of us when it comes to some traits that we consider human. In this case, it is theft. Some plants have evolved so that a particular insect can take its pollen from it flowers and so further the species. However, there are a number of species out there who pay little or no attention to the ‘wishes’ of the flower. They sense pollen and they want it!

What do they do? They grab hold of the flower and rip it open, so gaining access to the corolla tube and then they access the precious nectar from there. However, sometimes their act of desecration will still result in pollination, as this amazing video shows. Breaking the Rules was created by Divulagare.

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