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Pat Willmer

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Pat Willmer
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of St Andrews

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]

Career and research

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Willmer 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

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References

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  1. ^ "Patricia Gillian Willmer - University of St Andrews". risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Environmental Physiology of Animals, 2nd Edition | Wiley". Wiley.com. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Willmer Group". Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "When Allies Are Too Zealous". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  7. ^ Willmer, Pat (1985). Bees, ants and wasps: the British Aculeates. Field Studies Council. ISBN 978-0916422585.
  8. ^ "Invertebrate relationships patterns animal evolution | Entomology". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  9. ^ Willmer, Pat (25 July 2011). Pollination and Floral Ecology. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12861-0.
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