Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared

Amazing stuff!

Unfortunately, Google and Bing did not find any image of the antennae of these beetles! Very disappointing in the age of AI! I have also looked at least at half a dozen different articles about this subject, but none of the articles had any such images.

"To attract their pollinators, plants have long produced vivid flowers—but the [plants were not] always so colorful. Long before flowers arose and the first bees and butterflies flitted about, palmlike plants called cycads offered a different kind of lure to insects: cones that heat up to act as thermal beacons to their beetle pollinators.

Now, scientists have discovered that beetles detect these beacons with tiny infrared sensors in their antennae. ... that infrared radiation attracts these beetle pollinators.

Plants have evolved the ability to produce heat about a dozen times, always in their reproductive structures. The heat can be considerable. To attract pollinators in late winter, the eastern skunk cabbage raises its temperature by more than 30°C. Naomi Pierce, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, recalls seeing cycads at night for the first time with an infrared camera.  ..."

From the editor's summary and abstract:

"Editor’s summary

Plants have evolved an astonishing repertoire of signals to lure pollinators. Although color and scent are well-established pollination signals, some plants also produce heat. Valencia-Montoya et al. discovered that plant-produced heat is an early pollination signal and describe the molecular basis of both heat generation in cycads and heat sensing in beetle antennae (see the Perspective by Glover and Webb). By integrating detailed molecular analysis with field documentation of pollination, this study reveals an ancient sensory channel in plant-pollinator communication and contributes to elucidating the early evolution of pollination. ...

Abstract

Color and scent are well-known pollinator cues. Some plants also produce heat, but its role remains unclear.

Here, we report that plant-generated thermal infrared radiation serves as a pollination signal and describe the underlying mechanisms of heat production and infrared detection.

Mitochondrial adaptations heat plant reproductive structures in a circadian pattern, radiating infrared that is sufficient to attract beetle pollinators.

Beetle antennae contain infrared-activated neurons with thermosensitive ion channels that are structurally tuned to match host plant thermogenesis. Comparative analyses revealed that infrared is among the earliest pollination signals, and indicate a deep-time transition from infrared-based to color-dominated signaling in flowering plants.

Our findings uncover an ancient sensory modality shaping the early evolution of pollination, one of the world’s most vital processes linking plants and animals."

Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared | Science | AAAS "Pollinators’ antennae act like thermal cameras to spot self-heating plants"

Infrared radiation is an ancient pollination signal (no public access)

A thermal image of two male cones of the cycad Zamia furfuracea. The cones heat up during pollen release. Some areas of the cones can heat differentially, and these patterns serve as pollination guides. (Source)