Scientists are warning that climate change is the biggest threat to the pollinators that are essential for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem. Watch in for more details!

Climate change is threat to pollinators

Palaeontologists have found fossils of the oldest known insects and perhaps the world’s first-ever plant pollinators in Russia. The rare fossils of the earwig-like insects, known as tillyardembiids were discovered along the riverbank near the village of Chekarda in Russia.&nbsp;

At 280 million years old, the specimens predate what were previously the earliest known pollen-covered insects by about 120 million years. It is also one of the oldest ever insects, older than the mosquitoes found in Jurassic Park, which were nearly 200 million years old.&nbsp;

Tillyardembiids are flattened creatures and had clumps of pollen on their heads, bodies and legs. These insects looked like Christmas baubles when detected under a fluorescent microscope. The pollens found on these insects are gymnosperms, which is a plant category that produces seeds without flowers. Flowering plants evolved 250 million to 150 million years ago but became far more common 100 million years ago as the rise in pollinators helped transform the diversity of terrestrial life on Earth.&nbsp;

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The discovery of these pollen insects was led by a team from Russia and Poland. The team concede that it is impossible to know whether their ancient insects contributed to pollination in the Permian period, but suggests that by eating pollen and covering themselves in the grains, the creatures were an “evolutionary precursor” to the mutually beneficial arrangement. &nbsp;All the observations were published in the scientific journal of the Royal Society, Biology Letters.

The Permian period covers the last 47 million years of the Palaexozic era, which spans 540 million to 250 million years ago. Many insects preserved in amber date to 100 million years ago.&nbsp;

Describing the first instance of discovering these fossils, Alexander Khramov, a senior researcher said it was “like touching the past”. Khramov is a researcher at the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Science in Moscow.&nbsp;

Watch |&nbsp;Study: Pollen season to get longer and more intense due to climate change

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He further said, “This discovery sheds light on the early evolution of insect pollination. It provides direct, smoking-gun evidence of pollen dispersion by Paleozoic insects. And we could say that tillyardembiids were picky eaters, specialised on a rather narrow range of host plants”.&nbsp;

Does insect pollination predate flowers'?&nbsp;

Tillyardembiids had wings and so were highly effective at dispersing pollen, but whether the insects co-evolved with gymnosperms as the plants’ pollinators is likely to remain a mystery.&nbsp;

“We cannot go back in a time machine to observe whether these insects did pollination work or not. Even if they pollinated ancient gymnosperms all day round, there are no ways to prove it with certainty by means of palaeontology,” Khramov said.

“Who knows, maybe they simply gobbled up pollen, and plants did not benefit from it? Anyway, what we could say for sure is that tillyardembiids visited quite a narrow range of plants and carried their pollen in large amounts. So I do not see why they could not have been pollinators,” he added.

Charles Wellman, professor of palaeobiology at the University of Sheffield, said the majority of modern plants are insect pollinated. “How and when insect pollination began is a compelling question. This new fossil discovery suggests that insects had begun to steal plant pollen to eat millions of years before the process of pollination evolved. However, this eventually became an association of mutual benefit, as plants developed mechanisms to ensure that the thieves left with pollen attached, that fertilised neighbouring plants as they fed on them.”

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Barry Lomax, professor of plant palaeobiology a the University of Nottingham, said plant-insect interactions define the modern world, with pollinator services proving the backbone for much of our food production. The study, he said, provided evidence for the antiquity of the relationship, one that became established well before the evolution of flowers which likely occurred in the Cretaceous period about 135m years ago.

The exciting thing about this discovery is the fact that there appears to be a degree of specialisation in plant-insect interactions and that this specialisation predates flowering plants and it suggests the possibility that insect pollination predates flowers.

 
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Palaeontologists have found fossils of the oldest known insects and perhaps the world’s first-ever plant pollinators in Russia. The rare fossils of the earwig-like insects, known as tillyardembiids were discovered along the riverbank near the village of Chekarda in Russia.

Palaeontologists have found fossils of the oldest known insects and perhaps the world’s first-ever plant pollinators in Russia. The rare fossils of the earwig-like insects, known as tillyardembiids were discovered along the riverbank near the village of Chekarda in Russia. At 280 million years old, the specimens predate what were previously the earliest known pollen-covered insects by about 120 million years. It is also one of the oldest ever insects, older than the mosquitoes found in Jurassic Park, which were nearly 200 million years old. Tillyardembiids are flattened creatures and had clumps of pollen on their heads, bodies and legs. These insects looked like Christmas baubles when detected under a fluorescent microscope. The pollens found on these insects are gymnosperms, which is a plant category that produces seeds without flowers. Flowering plants evolved 250 million to 150 million years ago but became far more common 100 million years ago as the rise in pollinators helped transform the diversity of terrestrial life on Earth. Also Read | Auroras from plane: Two pilots make unscheduled 360-degree turns to catch rare spectacle The discovery of these pollen insects was led by a team from Russia and Poland. The team concede that it is impossible to know whether their ancient insects contributed to pollination in the Permian period, but suggests that by eating pollen and covering themselves in the grains, the creatures were an “evolutionary precursor” to the mutually beneficial arrangement. All the observations were published in the scientific journal of the Royal Society, Biology Letters. The Permian period covers the last 47 million years of the Palaexozic era, which spans 540 million to 250 million years ago. Many insects preserved in amber date to 100 million years ago. Describing the first instance of discovering these fossils, Alexander Khramov, a senior researcher said it was “like touching the past”. Khramov is a researcher at the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Science in Moscow. Watch | Study: Pollen season to get longer and more intense due to climate change × He further said, “This discovery sheds light on the early evolution of insect pollination. It provides direct, smoking-gun evidence of pollen dispersion by Paleozoic insects. And we could say that tillyardembiids were picky eaters, specialised on a rather narrow range of host plants”. Does insect pollination predate flowers'? Tillyardembiids had wings and so were highly effective at dispersing pollen, but whether the insects co-evolved with gymnosperms as the plants’ pollinators is likely to remain a mystery. “We cannot go back in a time machine to observe whether these insects did pollination work or not. Even if they pollinated ancient gymnosperms all day round, there are no ways to prove it with certainty by means of palaeontology,” Khramov said. “Who knows, maybe they simply gobbled up pollen, and plants did not benefit from it? Anyway, what we could say for sure is that tillyardembiids visited quite a narrow range of plants and carried their pollen in large amounts. So I do not see why they could not have been pollinators,” he added. Charles Wellman, professor of palaeobiology at the University of Sheffield, said the majority of modern plants are insect pollinated. “How and when insect pollination began is a compelling question. This new fossil discovery suggests that insects had begun to steal plant pollen to eat millions of years before the process of pollination evolved. However, this eventually became an association of mutual benefit, as plants developed mechanisms to ensure that the thieves left with pollen attached, that fertilised neighbouring plants as they fed on them.” Also Read | UN discovers uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 per cent in Iran Barry Lomax, professor of plant palaeobiology a the University of Nottingham, said plant-insect interactions define the modern world, with pollinator services proving the backbone for much of our food production. The study, he said, provided evidence for the antiquity of the relationship, one that became established well before the evolution of flowers which likely occurred in the Cretaceous period about 135m years ago. The exciting thing about this discovery is the fact that there appears to be a degree of specialisation in plant-insect interactions and that this specialisation predates flowering plants and it suggests the possibility that insect pollination predates flowers. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Russian scientists discover world's oldest pollinators which are older than mosquitos of Jurassic Park

The number of flying insects has fallen drastically in UK by as much as 60 per cent between 2004 and 2021, a recent survey has revealed,&nbsp;warning of dire consequences for crop pollination and natural food chains.

The scientists who took out this survey warned that the drop was “terrifying”, as life on Earth depends on insects, The Guardian reported.

According to a survey by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, moths, flies, aphids, bees and flying beetles declined by almost 60 per cent in less than 20 years.

The drop was also witnessed among pollinators—the insects who perform natural pest control, break down organic matter and return nutrients to the soil—the survey noted.

The study has raised fears that a loss of pollinators could cause a shortage of food crops.

The aim of the survey was to count bug splats on car registration plates. For this, they created an app called Bugs Matter&nbsp;for use by ordinary citizens.

Users were asked to clean their license plates before heading out in their vehicle and then click pictures of the number of bugs they found splattered on the plates when they returned.

Those records were then sent to the team at Buglife, and they collated the data into a count of bug splats over a given time period for the entire UK—in this instance from 2004 to 2021.

It was later found that the fall was highest in England at 65 per cent with Wales recording 55 per cent fewer insects and Scotland 28 per cent.

“This vital study suggests that the number of flying insects is declining by an average of 34% per decade – this is terrifying,” The Guardian quoted Matt Shardlow of Buglife as saying.

“We cannot put off action any longer, for the health and wellbeing of future generations this demands a political and a societal response. It is essential that we halt biodiversity decline now.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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The number of flying insects has fallen drastically in UK by as much as 60 per cent between 2004 and 2021, a recent survey has revealed, warning of dire consequences for crop pollination and natural food chains.

The number of flying insects has fallen drastically in UK by as much as 60 per cent between 2004 and 2021, a recent survey has revealed, warning of dire consequences for crop pollination and natural food chains. The scientists who took out this survey warned that the drop was “terrifying”, as life on Earth depends on insects, The Guardian reported. According to a survey by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, moths, flies, aphids, bees and flying beetles declined by almost 60 per cent in less than 20 years. The drop was also witnessed among pollinators—the insects who perform natural pest control, break down organic matter and return nutrients to the soil—the survey noted. The study has raised fears that a loss of pollinators could cause a shortage of food crops. The aim of the survey was to count bug splats on car registration plates. For this, they created an app called Bugs Matter for use by ordinary citizens. Users were asked to clean their license plates before heading out in their vehicle and then click pictures of the number of bugs they found splattered on the plates when they returned. Those records were then sent to the team at Buglife, and they collated the data into a count of bug splats over a given time period for the entire UK—in this instance from 2004 to 2021. It was later found that the fall was highest in England at 65 per cent with Wales recording 55 per cent fewer insects and Scotland 28 per cent. “This vital study suggests that the number of flying insects is declining by an average of 34% per decade – this is terrifying,” The Guardian quoted Matt Shardlow of Buglife as saying. “We cannot put off action any longer, for the health and wellbeing of future generations this demands a political and a societal response. It is essential that we halt biodiversity decline now.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE

Number of flying insects fell by almost 60% in 20 years in UK, reveals survey, warns of consequences

Dogs are often called man's best friend.&nbsp; But bees are&nbsp;integral to global food security as well.

Bees&nbsp;play a vital role in ecosystems as pollinators of major crops, but their numbers have been falling rapidly due to habitat loss, pollution and pesticides.&nbsp;

The United Nations warns that 40 per cent of invertebrate pollinators,&nbsp;in particular&nbsp;bees&nbsp;and butterflies, risk global extinction.

Nearly 90 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species depend entirely on animal pollination along with more than 75 per cent of world's food crops and 35 per cent of global agricultural land.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-world-bee-day-386383">Watch |</a>

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In monetary terms, annual food production worth between $235 to $577 billion relies on&nbsp;pollinators.

To raise awareness about the significance of pollinators, the&nbsp;threats they face, and their contribution to sustainable developement, the UN designated May 20 as World Bee Day.

Human beings would not have known about honey if bees did not exist.&nbsp;An 8,000-year-old cave painting in Spain depicts humans gathering honey.&nbsp;Honey has also been found in ancient Egyptian tombs.

1.5 per cent population of Ukraine&nbsp;depends on bee-keeping.&nbsp;The tradition goes back to the Medieval times and&nbsp;the craft has been handed down from generation to generation.&nbsp;Today, Ukraine is one of Europe's major honey producers.

According to&nbsp;Vadim Yanyuk, a honey hunter in Ukraine, ''It is our historical heritage like one of the oldest handcrafts.''

In Italy, Francesco Capoano&nbsp;has spent his whole life taking care of bees.&nbsp;There are thousands of beekeepers like him&nbsp;who are working tirelessly to ensure that the population of bees does not decline.

The director of Green Island,&nbsp;Claudia Zanfi says&nbsp;"Bees have been on the planet for over a hundred million years, we humans have only been here for 2.5 million years so there is already that difference among us.''

''They have a perfect social organisation, I don't want to go on about this but they are led by women, it is a very interesting organization, society and superorganism, and as human beings we have a lot to learn from them but also regarding how to respect them."

Bees are under threat. Present species extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times than normal due to human impacts. If this trend continues vegetable&nbsp;crops will be substituted by staple crops resulting in an imbalanced diet.

Dogs are often called man's best friend. But bees are integral to global food security as well. Bees play a vital role in ecosystems as pollinators of major crops, but their numbers have been falling rapidly due to habitat loss, pollution and pesticides.

Dogs are often called man's best friend. But bees are integral to global food security as well. Bees play a vital role in ecosystems as pollinators of major crops, but their numbers have been falling rapidly due to habitat loss, pollution and pesticides. The United Nations warns that 40 per cent of invertebrate pollinators, in particular bees and butterflies, risk global extinction. Nearly 90 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species depend entirely on animal pollination along with more than 75 per cent of world's food crops and 35 per cent of global agricultural land. Watch | In monetary terms, annual food production worth between $235 to $577 billion relies on pollinators. To raise awareness about the significance of pollinators, the threats they face, and their contribution to sustainable developement, the UN designated May 20 as World Bee Day. Human beings would not have known about honey if bees did not exist. An 8,000-year-old cave painting in Spain depicts humans gathering honey. Honey has also been found in ancient Egyptian tombs. 1.5 per cent population of Ukraine depends on bee-keeping. The tradition goes back to the Medieval times and the craft has been handed down from generation to generation. Today, Ukraine is one of Europe's major honey producers. According to Vadim Yanyuk, a honey hunter in Ukraine, ''It is our historical heritage like one of the oldest handcrafts.'' In Italy, Francesco Capoano has spent his whole life taking care of bees. There are thousands of beekeepers like him who are working tirelessly to ensure that the population of bees does not decline. The director of Green Island, Claudia Zanfi says "Bees have been on the planet for over a hundred million years, we humans have only been here for 2.5 million years so there is already that difference among us.'' ''They have a perfect social organisation, I don't want to go on about this but they are led by women, it is a very interesting organization, society and superorganism, and as human beings we have a lot to learn from them but also regarding how to respect them." Bees are under threat. Present species extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times than normal due to human impacts. If this trend continues vegetable crops will be substituted by staple crops resulting in an imbalanced diet.

World Bee Day: How are bees integral to global food security?

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