Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wei J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7480147 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Wei Jiangkun J Huo Zixin Z Gorb Stanislav N SN Rico-Guevara Alejandro A Wu Zhigang Z Wu Jianing J
Biology letters 20200812 8
Nectarivorous insects generally adopt suction or lapping to extract nectar from flowers and it is believed that each species exhibits one specific feeding pattern. In recent literature, large groups of nectarivores are classified as either 'suction feeders', imbibing nectar through their proboscis, or 'lappers', using viscous dipping. Honeybees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>) are the well-known lappers by virtue of their hairy tongues. Surprisingly, we found that honeybees also employ active suction whe ...[more]