I love trees for many, many reasons. In this post for #treetuesday challenge, I want to emphasize the fact that trees are very smart!
Besides the fact that they can produce some chemicals that combat insects that eat their leaves, they also send signals to other trees, warning them to prepare for an insect attack!
Almost unbelievable, right? Well... research has shown that those ‘warned trees’ became more resistant to insects after receiving the signals. 🙂🌳🙂
The signals are airborne, and they are actually called trees’ airborne signals.
Another even more interesting fact is that some of the airborne signals attract natural predators that kill the insects. The enemies of trees’ enemies! How cool is that⁉️
A study in 2013 found that apple trees attacked by caterpillars release chemicals that attract birds that eat caterpillars. The study showed that the birds were attracted to infested trees, even when they could not see the larvae or the damaged leaves. The birds could smelled which tree was infested with caterpillars because the trees released special volatile emissions. 🙂🌳🙂
Amazing‼️
