03/06/2025                                                                            
                                    
                                    
                                                                        
                                        Plants can hear tiny wing flaps of pollinators
You only get answers to the questions you ask.
We asked if flowers have colors that attract pollinators.
And we looked beyond what we can see.
Into ultraviolet and infrared.
Oh, my, yes.
Flowers do communicate with pollinators by color.
We asked if flowers have a scent that attracts pollinators.
Or repels hungry insects.
And, yup, they do.
Now, we are finally asking if flowers can hear their pollinators.
And the answer, is "of course."
Check this out.
Plants can hear tiny wing flaps of pollinators
By Laura Brisa's, 21 May 2025
Edited by Susun
"When pollinators visit flowers, they produce a number of characteristic sounds, such as wing flapping when hovering, landing, and taking off. Depending on the size of the pollinator, these sounds are extremely small, especially compared to other vibrations and acoustics . . . . 
"In new research presented today at the 188th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and 25th International Congress on Acoustics, it appears that plants can respond to the tiny wingbeats of insects. 
". . . there is growing evidence that both insects and plants can sense and produce, or transmit, vibroacoustic signals," said Francesca Barbero, a professor of zoology at the University of Turin in Italy.
"A team of entomologists, sound engineers, and plant physiologists played recordings of the buzzing sounds made by the tiny Rhodanthidium sticticum bee near some snapdragons (Antirrhinum). These bees are efficient snapdragon pollinators.
"The sound of the bees triggered the snapdragons to increase their sugar and nectar volume. The noise even changed how the genes that control both sugar transport and nectar production behaved.
"The ability to discriminate approaching pollinators based on their distinctive vibroacoustic signals could be an adaptive strategy for plants," said Barbero. 
"If this response from insects is confirmed, sounds could be used to treat economically relevant plants and crops, and increase their pollinators' attraction."
"The multitude of ways plants can perceive both biotic factors — such as beneficial and harmful insects, other neighboring plants — and abiotic cues, like temperature, drought, and wind in their surroundings, is truly astonishing."
"The project, 'Good Vibes: How do plants recognise and respond to pollinator vibroacoustic signals?' is funded by the Human Frontier Science Program and is a collaborative effort between the University of Turin, I²SysBio in Valencia, and the Centre for Audio, Acoustics and Vibration at the University of Technology Sydney."
It is in beauty.
Our breath a giveaway dance.
Our hearts beating as one with the earth's heart.
Green blessings are listening.
They have us surrounded.
Gratitude
Joy