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Contact: Lee Siegel
leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu
801-581-8993
University of Utah
Caption: Insects known as thrips are shown leaving the cone of a male cycad plant as the cone heats up and emits an odor to drive the insects away. The thrips feed on cycad pollen, which is contained in whitish sacs visible under the cone scales. As the odor dissipates, thrips are attracted back to the cones, but some mistakenly go to female cones, thereby pollinating the plants. University of Utah researchers believe this "push-pull" pollination method may represent an intermediate stage in the evolution of pollination.
Credit: Irene Terry, University of Utah.
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