Tobacco plant thwarts caterpillar onslaught by opening flowers in the morning

Friday, January 22, 2010 - 01:56 in Mathematics & Economics

We normally think of pollinators as providing a valuable service to plants, and they certainly do. In exchange for nectar, pollinators like the well-known honey bee carry pollen from one plant to the other and thus promote cross-fertilization. But what happens when the pollinators aren't satisfied with their nectar rewards and decide to eat their generous plant partners? Just such a scenario arises in a number of plant-pollinator mutualisms in which the pollinator deposits eggs on the plant, which then develop into herbivorous larvae. What is a plant to do when faced with such a dilemma?

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