hmmm
How do the electric emissions of flowers change if you, say, pluck a leaf?
There's one thing that literally makes bees' hairs stand up and quiver, say boffins: small electric fields emitted by flowers looking to get it on. According to research from Bristol University, flowers encourage pollination by transmitting electric signals that cause bees' hair to rapidly vibrate. The findings, published in …
The bee gets a positive charge from bumping into dust. The flower is surrounded by negatively charged air (-100v per meter above the ground) and so develops a negative charge too. That field's shape can indicate to the bee what kind of flower it is, and when positive bees visit a lot, the flower's field is altered in a detectable way. The pollen can also jump across gaps to stick to the bee, uninvited.
At least that's what this says.
I'm a beekeeper and I remember reading somesuch on this topic before.
The conjecture was that the charge was an indicator to be bee that nectar was available. This was because after the bee had left the flower the charge was reduced and increased again in line with the re-supply of nectar at that flower.
I figure that the electromagnetic signals the flowers emit would be filtered reflection of the EM waves that hit the plant. Specifically, the chloroplasts that are responsible for absorbing most of the visible spectrum also work on the frequencies that the bees use. Would explain why bees aren't attracted to flowers before they fully bloom or ones that have started to go a it brown...
"Specifically, the chloroplasts that are responsible for absorbing most of the visible spectrum also work on the frequencies that the bees use."
Entomophilous flowers tend not to have chloroplasts, their colours are usually due to anthocyanins. Flower signalling to insects is complex. There are often markings only visible in UV and there are also chemical signals which we humans perceive as scent.
"Electroreception is common in aquatic mammals. For example, sharks are equipped with sensitive, jelly-filled receptors that detect fluctuations in electric fields in seawater which helps them to home in on their prey." I know there's a full stop in there but these sentences seem to be suggesting that sharks are aquatic mammals.