Buff-tailed bumblebees, important pollinators in Aotearoa, have a taste for flowers with bigger “bullseye” markings at the centre, a study published in Science Advances indicates. UK scientists 3D-printed targets to mimic three species of hibiscus, and laced them with sugar water. They found the bees went for the bigger option—even when only the smaller target had the “nectar” reward—and sped up as they zipped between these more dramatically painted flowers. That’s good for the bees: a quick commute is safer for them, as they run out of energy fast. It’s also good for the flowers that were the focus of their attentions, including Hibiscus trionum, an exotic which is widespread here and has a decent-sized bullseye.
But it’s bad news for our very rare native Hibiscus richardsonii, pictured here, which was also part of the study—and, with its modest central splotch, often ignored by the pollinators.
