[Pollinator] Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' are the bee's knees in the insect world

[Matthew Shepherd (Xerces Society)]

Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' are the bee's knees in the insect world 
By Martin Hickman; 8/15/05
Full article in The Independent (London), at: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article305951.ece

With his swirling, expressive style of painting and his troubled psyche, Vincent van Gogh has for decades been an inspiration for art students, bohemians and romantics intrigued by tormented artists. Now another, more colourful group of admirers can be added to his fans: bumblebees.

According to a scientific study by a team of "behavioural ecologists" from Queen Mary College, London University, a selection of bumblebees alighted on the Dutch master's Sunflowers at the expense of other equally vivid pictures. Second place in the great apian art test went to the only other floral picture shown, Gauguin's A Vase of Flowers.

Sunflowers fared the best. The bees approached the yellow and orange painting the most, 146 times, landing on it 15 times. They approached Gauguin's painting from Tahiti in 1896 almost half as often (81 times). But they buzzed on to it an impressive 11 times.

Parts of the pictures, though, were of particular interest to the bees, especially the blue areas, which researchers thought might be linked to blue's association with high-nectar flowers. The industrious bees were drawn to Van Gogh's blue signature, the blue blooms in the Gauguin, and to a light blue square in Still Life With A Beer Mug.
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The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Protecting wildlife through science-based advocacy, education, 
and conservation projects since 1971. To join the Society, make a 
contribution, or read about our work, please visit www.xerces.org.

Matthew Shepherd
Director, Pollinator Conservation Program
4828 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, Portland, OR 97215, USA
Tel: 503-232 6639 Fax: 503-233 6794
Email: mdshepherd at xerces.org 
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