Patricia 'Pat' Gillian Willmer is an entomologist and ecologist in the UK. She is emeritus professor of zoology at the University of St Andrews and is an expert in pollination.[1]
Pat Willmer | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of St Andrews |
Career and research
editWillmer was initially a neurobiologist at the University of Cambridge, before moving into invertebrate physiology and eventually insect plant interactions.[2]
She has researched pollination biology for over 30 years[3] and she supports agricultural environmental schemes such as wildflower strips to support pollinating insects and enhance crop pollination.[4]
Some of her interesting findings include flowers can change colour such as the legume Desmodium setigerum which changes from lilac to white to turquoise after being visited by a pollinating bee;[5] and acacia plants that manipulate the ants that defend them, releasing a compound mimicking the ant alarm pheromone when they flower so that pollinating insects such as bees can visit.[6]
Selected works
edit- Bees, ants and wasps: a key to genera of the British Aculeates, published by the Field Studies Council in 1985.[7]
- Invertebrate Relationships: Patterns in Animal Evolution, published by Cambridge University Press in 1990.[8]
- Environmental Physiology of Animals, with Graham Stone and Ian Johnston, published by Wiley Blackwell in 2000.[2]
- Pollination and Floral Ecology, published by Princeton University Press in 2011.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Patricia Gillian Willmer - University of St Andrews". risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Environmental Physiology of Animals, 2nd Edition | Wiley". Wiley.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Willmer Group". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Bees are worth billions to farmers across the globe, study suggests". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 17 June 2015. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Flowers change colour and back again to advertise their opening hours". Science. 15 June 2009. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "When Allies Are Too Zealous". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ Willmer, Pat (1985). Bees, ants and wasps: the British Aculeates. Field Studies Council. ISBN 978-0916422585.
- ^ "Invertebrate relationships patterns animal evolution | Entomology". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ Willmer, Pat (25 July 2011). Pollination and Floral Ecology. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12861-0.