ReviewJournal of experimental botany2022
How and why do bees buzz? Implications for buzz pollination.
Review in Journal of experimental botany, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bee Visitation to Three Clover Species (Insects · 2026Article
- Pollen counting made easy: mobile pollen counter provides real-time results in the field.Journal of experimental botany · 2026Article
- Fine-tuning the buzz: comparing visitation frequency and pollination effectiveness in plant-pollinator networks.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Functional diversity of Brazilian bees: revealing the unique patterns of the Neotropics.Oecologia · 2025Article
- Increasing temperatures affect thoracic muscle performance in Arctic bumblebees.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Flight and Floral Acoustic Signals for Bee Species Identification.Neotropical entomology · 2025Article
- Bee Body Size and Foraging Behavior Predict the Pollination Role of Bees in a Buzz-Pollinated Plant Community.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Sonic-induced cellular vibrations unzip intertwined anther cone trichomes to trigger floral self-pollination and boost tomato fruit size.Horticulture research · 2025Article
- Vapor pressure deficit control and mechanical vibration techniques to induce self-pollination in strawberry flowers.Plant methods · 2025Article
- The Role of Pathogens in Bumblebee Decline: A Review.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- A revision of the endemic BrazilianPhytoKeys · 2025Article
- Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from the Thorax Vibration of Freely Flying Bees.Cyborg and bionic systems (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- Harvesting pollen with vibrations: towards an integrative understanding of the proximate and ultimate reasons for buzz pollination.Annals of botany · 2024Review
- Bumble bee microbiota shows temporal succession and increase of lactic acid bacteria when exposed to outdoor environments.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Plants detect and respond to sounds.Planta · 2023Review
- Article
- Heteromorphic stamens are differentially attractive inAoB PLANTS · 2022Article
- Carpenter bee thorax vibration and force generation inform pollen release mechanisms during floral buzzing.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Anther cones increase pollen release in buzz-pollinated Solanum flowers.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2022Article
- Reduced visitation to buzz-pollinatedEcology and evolution · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Buzz pollination encompasses the evolutionary convergence of specialized floral morphologies and pollinator behaviour in which bees use vibrations (floral buzzes) to remove pollen. Floral buzzes are one of several types of vibrations produced by bees using their thoracic muscles. Here I review how bees can produce these different types of vibrations and discuss the implications of this mechanistic understanding for buzz pollination. I propose that bee buzzes can be categorized according to their mode of production and deployment into: (i) thermogenic, which generate heat with little mechanical vibration; (ii) flight buzzes which, combined with wing deployment and thoracic vibration, power flight; and (iii) non-flight buzzes in which the thorax vibrates but the wings remain mostly folded, and include floral, defence, mating, communication, and nest-building buzzes. I hypothesize that the characteristics of non-flight buzzes, including floral buzzes, can be modulated by bees via modification of the biomechanical properties of the thorax through activity of auxiliary muscles, changing the rate of activation of the indirect flight muscles, and modifying flower handling behaviours. Thus, bees should be able to fine-tune mechanical properties of their floral vibrations, including frequency and amplitude, depending on flower characteristics and pollen availability to optimize energy use and pollen collection.
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