A new study has revealed that the electrostatic field created by butterflies and moths in flight allows them to attract pollen grains from flowers across air gaps up to several centimetres wide.
Researchers from the University of Bristol also observed that the amount of static electricity carried by butterflies and moths varies from species to species depending on variations in their ecology, such as the type of flowers they visit, whether the insects fly at day or night, and the habitat in which they live.
The new findings, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, suggest that this electric field increases their efficiency and effectiveness as pollinators.
Scientists involved in the research say they already knew that flower-visiting animals, such as bees and hummingbirds might use static electricity to collect pollen. However, they didn't know whether this electrostatic attraction applied to a wider array of equally important pollinators, such as butterflies and moths.
"We set out to test this idea," says lead author Dr Sam England from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, "and see if butterflies and moths also accumulate charge, and if so, whether this charge is enough to attract pollen from flowers onto their bodies.”
The research examined 269 butterflies and moths across 11 species, native to five continents, each occupying various ecological niches. This allowed them to compare and determine if these ecological variables were linked to their charge, which in turn could reveal whether static charging could be influenced by evolution.
“We’ve discovered that butterflies and moths accumulate so much static electricity when flying, that pollen is literally pulled through the air towards them as they approach a flower," explains Dr England, "making them very good at their jobs as pollinators, and highlighting just how important they might be to the functioning of our flowery ecosystems."
So, what's the significance of these findings in the wider context?
“By establishing electrostatic charging as a trait upon which evolution can act," says Dr England, "it opens up a great deal of questions about how and why natural selection might lead to animals benefiting or suffering from the amount of static electricity that they accumulate."
In terms of practical applications, the scientists say there is the possibility for technologies to artificially increase the electrostatic charges or pollinators or pollen, all of which could improve pollination rates in natural and agricultural settings.
“For me personally, I would love to do a wider survey of as many different species of animal as possible, see how much static electricity they accumulate, and then look for any correlations with their ecology and lifestyle," concludes Dr England. "Then we can really begin to understand how evolution and static electricity interact!”
Find out more about the study: 'Electrostatic pollination by butterflies and moths’ by Sam J. England and Daniel Robert in Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
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