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Butterflies accumulate static electricity to attract pollen without contact
gh static electricity to attract pollen without contact Press release issued: 24 July 2024 Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimetres or centimetres. The finding, published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, suggests that this likely increases their efficiency and effectiveness as pollinators.
Lead author Dr Sam England from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, explained: “We already knew that many species of animal accumulate static electricity as they fly, most likely through friction with the air. “By establishing electrostatic charging as a trait upon which evolution can act, 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.” Dr England concluded: “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.
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