Plants send sos signals to insects for help
Silke Allmann and Ian Baldwin of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany have discovered that leafy tobacco plants can signal for help when they are in danger.
When they are being munched on by tobacco hornworm caterpillars, the plant produce a pungent chemical similar to fresh cut grass. The modified chemical signal calls in Geocoris insects—who love caterpillars—to rescue the plant.
More and more, science is finding consciousness in places it didn’t previously expect. So next time you smell fresh cut grass, remember that this is the plant world’s way of communicating.
Photos courtesy of: Ignodth, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Florida\_tobacco\_hornworm\_Manduca-sexta.jpg
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-11101536