Why Insects & Plants Have a Complicated Relationship

You may think that plants get along with all species in the animal kingdom, but the truth is a little more complicated! But turns out, this complicated relationship is probably a good thing! Join Hank and watch this new episode of SciShow to learn more!

Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him)

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Sources:
Why these bees just keep staring at flowers

Flowers, bees, and yeast? It’s a pollination love triangle!

Darwin’s darlings: meat-eating plants

Beware the bug spit: how spittlebugs accidentally doom plants

The carnivorous plants that gave up meat for poop

How plants attract bodyguards

Plants that keep themselves warm

[FrozEnbyWolf]

Bees have been known to stare at human faces the same way, and can learn and distinguish between different faces. This is because they see your face as a weird looking flower, and are using the same feature recognition behavior as when they memorize flowers. So if you're a gardener and are spending a lot of time outside among your flowering plants, the bees probably recognize you as part of their environment.

[markhammer]

One of the most fascinating talks I have ever attended was one about 20 years back on the co-evolution of flower color and pollinator vision. I say "pollinator" because, while that certainly includes insects, it is not restricted to them, and includes many avian species. As far as we can tell from the fossil record, the earliest flowers to evolve were largely in the short wavelength part of the spectrum; i.e., towards the purple and blue end. The evidence of pollinators at that time in evolution, indicates that, partly because they were so small, their color vision was largely restricted to, or at the very least most *sensitive* to, short wavelengths. As evolution progressed, and more species emerged and evolved, many pollinators emerged with expanded color vision, such that flowers in the yellow-orange-red end of the spectrum also emerged (or perhaps it was the other way around!). There may well HAVE been flowers with those colors earlier on, since random mutations are always taking place, but *something* has to be attracted to them to pollinate them and facilitate their reproduction and survival, and if you can't SEE those colors then that flower will not attract your attention.

[bekkaanneee]

i really love compilation videos. my memory is quite poor, and even if i’ve seen every one of the clips in a compilation, i love being able to rewatch old videos, but with added new stuff 💜💜

[angelahoffman]

I do the same thing as a learning flight when I park in a big, crowded parking lot. Once I get to the end of the row, I turn around and look, so I can recognize where my car is when I come out.

[madsgrams]

Something bugs me in this video and I need to correct it. Treeshrews aren't rodents. In fact, they make up their own distinbct order, which isn't even part of the same grandorder as the order Rodentia. They're part of Euarchonta, while rodents are part of Glira. This means that they're more closely related to us humans than they are to rodents, while rodents are more closely related to lagomorphs (rabbits and hares). The apparent similarity between these two groups is another weird example of convergent evolution. Although, funny enough, they are more closely related to rodents than to actual shrews, since Euarchonta and Glira are sister-taxas that form the superorder...Euarchontaglira (inspired name) and true shrews are part of the Laurisatheria superorder, making them more closely related to things like moles and hedgehogs...also to bats...probably (the placement of the Chiroptera order within the Laurisatheria clade is not very well understood).

[loporina]

Ants are cool. We're just starting to learn how intelligent hive insects can be. Ants might be the smartest insect, though. There ARE rumors that certain species can pass the mirror test, but either way, they are insanely intelligent problem solvers. I've watched ants who had never seen a pitcher plant before, learn that they could simply dump insect parts into it to get it to its feed limit which then stops producing its slippery stuff on the inside and they were then able to get at the sweat nectar.

[darcyharrison]

I would have guessed that the larger bees use more energy to fly around and forage so they take the time to remember the high yield flowers so they can make a bee line to it next time

[fintux]

I just cannot get over how much like actual toilet seats the poop collecting pitchers look

[ferrisb]

omg, I had to check that my video wasn't on 2x speed during the "how plants attract bodyguards" part, he's talking so much faster than usual! 😂

[GIBBO]

This guy is by far the best host on the channel!

[mbunds]

It seems also that larger bees require more calories to maintain flight, so it would be advantageous to select, and remember flowers having higher calorie content, since they have the energy budget to do this.

[SilentKaliSmoker]

This episode reminded me of a curious question. How do bats poop while sleeping upside down? How do they not poop all over themselves? Or do they?

[KittinPyro]

I must be part bumblebee. I had trouble remembering faces when i was younger so i when I met a new person who i expect id need to interact with and recognize, I’d stare at them for a few seconds and then close my eyes and try to picture their face in my mind. I probably thought i was a robot or something, scanning an image of them into my hard drive lol. I must’ve looked like a freak, i doubt it helped anyways.

I actually still have trouble with faces and with names. Not enough for it to really affect me much but i do remember this one time in middle school i met a girl who lived nearby in my new neighborhood. We hung out like everyday and she probably told me her name 2-3 times before i got so embarrassed by the fact that i just couldn’t remember that I stopped asking her and just avoided calling her by her name while desperately looking for some clue in her room or on her phone or something to tell me what her name was 🥲 I think that went on for like 2 weeks. She was oblivious the whole time poor thing. And no i don’t remember her name anymore xD

[hic_tus]

Xylella fastidiosa, where "fastidiosa" literally means "annoying", is the best name for a very annoying crops disease ever and I love it.

[wr]

today i learned that toilet can naturally occur which kinda proof our toilet is perfectly designed

[melissagalech]

I love learning about plants and pollinators, honey bees especially so I thoroughly enjoyed this video! Thanks, Scishow! On a side note, I do like Michael's new haircut but I like his hair longer better. I think he lost weight too. Good job, Michael!

[iriandia]

So glad to see my fave food sponsoring my fave show! Vite Ramen is seriously so, so good. I’m a huge fan!

[carolinapacheco]

12:43 for the people that don't know spanish, the word "fastidiosa" literaly means nuisance, witch seems petty acurate for what this thing does.

[katelynnehansen]

Thank you for all that you do, and the joy and wonders you all work hard to share!

[justayoutuber]

Michael talks with his hands more than an Italian Peter Griffin