• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Plants Smell Danger

Plants Smell Danger

January 16, 2013
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/130116_sciup_plant.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Plants that sniff out threats.  I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Male fruit flies use chemical odors to attract mates. But to plants called goldenrods, these amorous scents spell danger. That’s because after the flies mate, the females lay their eggs in the goldenrod’s stem, damaging the plant. Penn State University entomologist Mark Mescher and his colleagues found that goldenrod plants can actually detect the fruit fly smell. And when they do, they build up their defenses accordingly.

MARK MESCHER (The Pennsylvania State University):

So the plant is actually producing toxins and so forth, that are defending itself to the herbivores, and we can see that that’s stronger in plants that have previously been exposed to this odor.

HIRSHON:
It’s already known that some plants can detect distress chemicals from nearby plants that are being attacked by insects. But this is the first time a plant’s been shown to respond to a chemical from the enemy itself.  I’m Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the Science Society.

The tall goldenrod plant may be able to "smell" pests and prepare defenses to ward off attacks. (Pennstatelive/Flickr)
Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Biology, Plants & Agriculture
Previous Post:Birdsong Bluster
Next Post:Technology vs. Reading

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Cat Video
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • NASA
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Image of computer screen depicting an orange cat with a variety of alphanumeric scientific data superimposed on the the screen.
Spotted skunk performing handstand to threaten predators

Copyright © 2025 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos