Do you know flowers not only captivate with their colors but also guide pollinators like bees with their intricate patterns, much like a road map to their nectar?
A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory has unveiled a hidden blueprint behind these floral designs, particularly in hibiscus flowers (Gudhal in Hindi).
They found that bees prefer larger bullseyes over smaller ones and fly 25% faster between artificial flower discs with larger bullseyes – potentially boosting efficiency for both bees and blossoms.
This blueprint, laid down early in petal formation, determines the size and shape of the eye-catching bullseye patterns that can significantly influence a flower’s appeal to pollinators, said the study published in Science Advances.
“Remarkably, bees are drawn to larger bullseyes, which could boost their foraging efficiency by 25%. This discovery not only deepens our understanding of how plants attract pollinators but also reveals the sophisticated strategies flowers use to evolve and thrive in their ecological niches,” explained Dr Edwige Moyroud, main author of the study understanding the mechanisms underlying pattern formation in petals.
The researchers discovered that a pre-pattern forms on the petal surface very early in the flower’s development, long before the petal displays any discernible color.
“The petal acts like a ‘paint-by-numbers’ canvas, where different regions are predetermined to develop specific colours and textures long before they start looking different from one another.”
The research also revealed that plants can precisely regulate and alter the shape and size of these patterns through various mechanisms, which could influence plant evolution. By refining these designs, plants might enhance their ability to attract pollinators or potentially draw different insect species.
“If a trait can be produced by different methods, it gives evolution more options to modify it and create diversity, similar to an artist with a large palette or a builder with an extensive set of tools. By studying how bullseye patterns change, what we are really trying to understand is how nature generates biodiversity.”
Lead author Dr. Lucie Riglet said in the study that she explored the mechanism behind hibiscus petal patterns by studying the development of petals in three hibiscus flowers that had identical overall sizes but varied bullseye patterns.
She observed that the pre-pattern starts as a tiny, crescent-shaped area long before the bullseye becomes visible on petals smaller than 0.2mm.
