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Nectar robbing
 
 
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Nectar robbing refers to an insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
 (or other visitor, such as a bird) visiting a flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 and removing nectar without pollinating
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
 the plant, for example by drilling a hole in the corolla.

Although early writers such as Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
 generally assumed that this is a form of cheating
Cheating (biology)

Cheating, also known as exploitation, between organisms is a form of parasitism or specialized predation in which an organism engages in what appears to be a mutualistic relationship with another organism, but does not in fact provide any benefit to the other organism....
, by the late twentieth century researchers cast doubt on that assumption. It turns out that some insects which had been assumed to be robbing nectar do in fact pollinate the plants at least some of the time, and there has also been research into how nectar robbing may affect the behavior of non-robbing pollinators or provide other indirect benefits.






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Encyclopedia


Nectar robbing refers to an insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
 (or other visitor, such as a bird) visiting a flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
 and removing nectar without pollinating
Pollination

Pollination in flowering plants and gymnosperms is the process that transfers pollen, which contain the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself....
 the plant, for example by drilling a hole in the corolla.

Although early writers such as Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
 generally assumed that this is a form of cheating
Cheating (biology)

Cheating, also known as exploitation, between organisms is a form of parasitism or specialized predation in which an organism engages in what appears to be a mutualistic relationship with another organism, but does not in fact provide any benefit to the other organism....
, by the late twentieth century researchers cast doubt on that assumption. It turns out that some insects which had been assumed to be robbing nectar do in fact pollinate the plants at least some of the time, and there has also been research into how nectar robbing may affect the behavior of non-robbing pollinators or provide other indirect benefits. If these factors make the interaction beneficial for the plant, it is mutualism
Mutualism

Mutualism is a biological interaction between two organisms, where each individual derives a fitness benefit, for example increased survivorship....
 rather than cheating.

Nectar robbers include carpenter bee
Carpenter bee

Carpenter bees are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide. There are some 500 species of carpenter bee in 31 subgenera. Their name comes from the fact that nearly all species build their nests in burrows in dead wood, bamboo, or structural timbers ....
s, bumblebee
Bumblebee

A bumblebee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae; there are over 250 known species primarily occurring in the Northern Hemisphere....
s, Trigona
Trigona (genus)

For the Greece village, see TrygonaTrigona is the largest genus of stingless bees, formerly including many more subgenera than the present assemblage; many of these former subgenera have been elevated to generic status....
 bees, and the bird Diglossa baritula from Central America.