Nectar thieves are damaging rare orchids in North Dakota
Thursday, October 1, 2015 - 08:50
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Robbers and thieves are flying in the fields of southeastern North Dakota, but these larcenists aren't your typical criminals, prowling around in masks and disguises. They are hawk moths and bumble bees, and according to charges made by researchers in a paper recently published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America, they've been stealing nectar from the federally-listed threatened western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara).