LONG-TONGUED FLIES: BOLD POLLINATORS OF NAMAQUALAND
Jun 17, 2022
4 minutes
BY NICK DALL
UNTIL RECENTLY, Prosoeca peringueyi – an otherworldly creature with a needle-like tongue twice the length of its body (in other words, more than an inch long) – was thought to play a vital role in the reproduction of around 28 Namaqualand plant species whose tubular flowers could
But ongoing research by French botanist Florent Grenier and South African entomologist Genevieve Theron has shown the number of plant species to be at least 42 – a conservative estimate suggests no fewer than nine of which are at risk of extinction. for example, is critically endangered, with a single
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