Ray Cannon's Blog

The flowers of many different plant species change colour at some point during their lives. In some species this change coincides with the availability of nectar, in others it occurs later on, as a signal to discourage pollinator visitation. In other words, a change in colour signals to pollinators that the flower has already been visited and pollinated. In most species, the colour change is…

Sea daffodill (Pancratium maritimum) with spider The  Sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum) is a Mediterranean plant which also extends out along the Atlantic coasts of Portugal, Spain and France.  They typically grow on sandy soils such as on beach dunes near the sea.  They flower in the summer, producing a stong lily scent which is most aromatic at night.  The bulbs of this Amaryllidaceous…

It is well established that bumblebees and honeybees leave chemical footprints everywhere they walk: footprints that other bees can detect, rather like a dog sniffing out the scent trail of another canine. In fact, the analogy is quite a good one, because like dogs, bees (and other insects) can tell a lot about other individuals from their scent marks. Honey bee (Apis mellifera) on field…