Nectar thief
A nectar thief or nectar robber is an animal that takes nectar from plant flowers without pollinating the flowers visited at the same time. The primary nectar thieves include some species of bumblebee such as Bombus terrestris and Bombus mastrucatus . With their mandibles, they bite holes in flowers from the outside like those of quail wheat , sucking nectar without pollinating. Honey bees and ants are counted as secondary nectar thieves who use the suction holes created by primary nectar thieves, as they themselves do not have sufficiently strong biting tools to drill holes.
Some tropical birds are also nectar thieves, for example the green- tailed emerald hummingbird .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Behavior of the bumblebees. In: Wildbienen.de . Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Germany is humming , accessed on August 9, 2020.
- ↑ Nectar thieves. In: Lexicon of Biology / Spektrum.de. Retrieved August 9, 2020 .
Web links
Commons : Nectar robbing - collection of images, videos and audio files
