Bees and butterflies struggle to find flowers in polluted air

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Lacking a nose, insects such as butterflies and bees use their antennae to detect scents. Those scents help them find food and more. What happens, though, when air pollution overwhelms the scents on which these critters depend? Those insects become less likely to visit a flower or to pollinate it. That’s the finding of a new study.

People depend on insects to pollinate the plants that make many of the fruits, nuts and vegetables we eat. Past studies had shown urban air pollution might mask the scents insects use to find flowers. For instance, ozone — an ingredient in smog — can break down the scents released by flowers. Computer models predicted this would cause problems for insects seeking flowers for a meal. But scientists weren’t sure that would happen in real life.

James Ryalls and his team decided to find out if it would.

Ryalls is a biologist at the University of Reading in England. Working in a field of black mustard plants, his group crafted a system made up of rings eight meters (26 feet) in diameter. Each area was open, so nearby insects could fly into it. The researchers pumped pollutant gases into these rings. Two rings received diesel fumes. Two more got ozone. Another two got both gases. A final pair of rings was a control and received no added gases.

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