Nectarivorous birds and bats have evolved highly specialized tongues to gather nectar from flowers. Here, we show that a nectar-feeding bat, Glossophaga soricina, uses dynamic erectile papillae to collect nectar. In G. soricina, the tip of the tongue is covered with long filamentous papillae and resembles a brush or mop. During nectar feeding, blood vessels within the tongue tip become engorged...

We have built a high-speed local-area network called Nectar that uses programmable communication processors as host interfaces. In contrast to most protocol engines, our communication processors have a flexible runtime system that supports multiple transport protocols as well as application-specific activities. In particular, we have implemented the TCP/IP protocol suite and Nectar-specific com...

Some plants secrete toxic nectar to appeal to most effective pollinators and deter non-pollinators or nectar thieves; however available information about ecological function of toxic nectar remains scarce. Elsholtzia rugulosa stands out as a plant with toxic nectar recorded in SW China. We focused on the functional significance of the phenolic compound that imparts toxic to the nectar of E. rug...

The gut microflora of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, is receiving increasing attention as a potential determinant of the bees' health and their efficacy as pollinators. Studies have focused primarily on the microbial taxa that appear numerically dominant in the bee gut, with the assumption that the dominant status suggests their potential importance to the bees' health. However, numerically min...

Apis mellifera bees perform dances to communicate the presence of desirable nectar sources. The regulation of these dances does not depend exclusively on properties of the nectar sources, but also upon certain stimuli derived from the foraging status of the colony as a whole; i.e. bees exploiting a source of constant profitability are more likely to dance when the colony's nectar intake rate is...

--Key assumptions and components of biophysical models of hummingbird licking that are central to current interpretations of plant-pollinator coevolution have not previously been verified. To test the realism of the models, I measured fine-scale parameters of a Rufous Hummingbird's (Selasphorus rufus) licking, including licking frequency and volume extracted per lick, with a photodetector array...

At least 29 species of fossil primates have been referred to fruit, nectar, and/or exudate feeding dietary niches. Many studies have detailed the morphological correlates of fruit feeding in comparison to insectivory and folivory. In contrast, few studies have sought to differentiate the morphological correlates of fruit feeding from those of nectar and exudate feeding. This study investigates ...

Butterfly community and single species based approaches were taken to establish conservation priorities within a nature reserve in Central Spain. In this study, patch type (sclerophyllous, halophilous, or disturbed), potential herbaceous nectar availability, potential woody plant nectar availability, total nectar availability, and two approximations to plant diversity (herbaceous and woody plan...

An outstanding feature of the orchid family is that approximately 30-40% of the species have non-rewarding flowers and deploy various modes of deception to attract pollinators, whereas the remaining species engage in pollination mutualisms based on provision of floral rewards. Here, we explore the direction, frequency and reversibility of transitions between deceptive and rewarding pollination ...