A new Assets page is available at our website! It features our pollinator entomological collection, with about 25,000 insect specimens, including ~20,000 bees and ~1,000 hoverflies, as well as the flow cytometer used to estimate genome size and ploidy in plants. ucpages.uc.pt/flowerlab/as...

Opening of the “Seeds of Beauty” exhibition, of the Cultural Week of @ucoimbra.bsky.social The exhibition features striking photographs of seeds from the Seed Collection of the COI Herbarium, captured by Ana Coelho, funded by the Compound Eyes Foundation. A beautiful meeting of science and art. 🌱

🎙️🐝 Hugo Gaspar from FLOWer Lab joined the podcast Palavra de Cientista to discuss the 2nd IUCN European Bee Red List. The assessment covered 1,928 species and found 171 threatened with extinction, while reducing Data Deficient species from 57% to 14% since 2014. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/2SWr...

Drosophyllum lusitanicum, the Portuguese sundew pine, is one of the most unusual plants of our flora. A carnivorous plant, its leaves are covered with sticky glands that trap small insects. This strategy allows it to live in nutrient-poor Mediterranean sandy soils. Rare and localized in Portugal.

🦋 First butterfly transect of the FLOWer Lab! As part of the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, a citizen science initiative coordinated by TAGIS, we surveyed our site in Souselas. Despite marginal weather conditions, we recorded Gonopteryx sp., Pieris rapae and Callophrys rubi. A promising start! 🌿

Last Thursday, Biology students from @ucoimbra.bsky.social visited the Entomological Collection of the Department of Life Sciences (CE-DCV). The visit was part of the course Natural History Collections, and was hosted by Hugo Gaspar. CE-DCV houses ~25,000 insect specimens, including ~20,000 bees 🐝

We were delighted to welcome Duarte Figueiredo Duarte leads the Seed Development & Apomixis lab at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam. He presented the talk “Molecular mechanisms driving seed formation in angiosperms” at the #dcvtalks 🌱🧬 Many thanks for the visit!

Inauguration of the exhibition “Herbário, Viagem pelo Belo”, as part of the Cultural Week of the @ucoimbra.bsky.social 🎨🌿 The exhibition brings together drawings and watercolours portraying the botanical journey of discovery by artist-in-residence Kotryna Navickaite.

🌍🐝 World Wildlife Day Plant–pollinator interactions are at the heart of biodiversity. Every flower visit sustains ecological networks that support wild plants, crops and ecosystem functioning 🌸🦋 Conserving wildlife means conserving these connections.

👩‍🎓🌱 The FLOWer Lab keeps growing in 2026! We welcome Tine De Vidts from HOGENT, Belgium, joining us through a long-standing collaboration with the Universidade de Coimbra. She will work on lab and field techniques within plant ecology & evolution research 🌼🧬 Welcome, Tine!

Many congratulations, old lady! 🎉 736 years is no small milestone. A solidarity walk and run celebrating the anniversary of the Universidade de Coimbra, in the best company. Team @flowerlab.bsky.social 🏃‍♀️🌿

Hugo Gaspar (FLOWer Lab, UC) contributed to the new IUCN European Red List of Bees 🐝 10% of Europe’s wild bees are threatened. The report highlights the need for national Red Lists – Portugal still lacks one. Report: op.europa.eu/en/publicati... A2P report: op.europa.eu/en/publicati...

Already missing the incredible beaches of the Costa da Morte 🌊 Atlantic light, wild dunes and that constant ocean sound and smell, hard not to want to go back.

Yesterday was a hands-in-the-soil day🌱 We potted diploid and tetraploid individuals of Jasione maritima and J. montana, collected last weekend. A classic question: which is the stronger reproductive barrier, species divergence or ploidy level? 🧬 Crosses will follow once they flower. Stay tuned 🌸

Afternoon potting the plants sampled over the weekend 🌱 From field to controlled conditions, the next step in ensuring proper monitoring and experimental follow-up of the collected material.

The Atlantic coastal dune plants we observed yesterday in Galicia! Dune systems along the Costa da Morte host highly specialised flora adapted to salt spray, nutrient-poor substrates and intense wind exposure. True beauties, and remarkable examples of ecological resilience in dynamic sandy habitats

Today we were in Galicia carrying out field sampling along the stunning beaches of the Costa da Morte 🌊 A dynamic Atlantic coastline, where strong oceanic influence and geomorphological heterogeneity create remarkable ecological gradients.

Today, plants take the spotlight 👑🌿 We’re sharing some of the winter diversity we found in Coimbra and Souselas, a reminder that even in the colder months, botanical richness quietly persists across the landscape.

Today we’re sharing a wonderful interaction between a hoverfly (Eristalis sp.) and a gorse shrub (Ulex sp.) 🌼 Hoverflies are key generalist pollinators, and observations like this highlight their role in Mediterranean shrubland plant–pollinator networks.

🎨 Concurso de logo para el XIII Congreso SEBICOP. Buscamos una imagen que represente la conservación de la flora nacional. 📩 Contacto: [email protected] 📍 Aranjuez, 30 junio – 3 julio 2026

Home sweet home, or perhaps just “home”, since the flowers of Barlia robertiana do not provide nectar to their floral visitors 🌿 Like many orchids, this species relies on deceptive pollination strategies, attracting insects without offering a nectar reward.

Today, we bring you the largest wild orchid you can find in Portugal, Barlia robertiana, photographed in a meadow in Lordemão and Souselas 🌿 A remarkable Mediterranean species, standing out for its size and dense inflorescences.

Huge milestone for #pollinators! 🐝🪰 Members of FLOWer Lab contributed to a new paper in Scientific Data led by the University of Mons. The study compiles 5.3M+ records of European bees & hoverflies, covering 97% of species! Vital data for pollinator conservation. 🌍📉 Infographic made with NotebookLM

A fungus gnat (cf. Sciaridae) visiting Euphorbia characias (Mediterranean spurge) in Coimbra, Portugal

Interaction recorded in Mata de Santa Catarina, Coimbra, PT: a fungus gnat (cf. Sciaridae) visiting Euphorbia characias (Mediterranean spurge). Observations like this contribute to documenting underexplored Diptera–Euphorbia interactions. Apologies for the brief focus instability in the video.

And we continue to show you some of the preciousness of the Santa Catarina Forest in Coimbra! Today we bring you these wonderful mushrooms!

FLOWer Lab at #ECOFLOR2026 🌸 in Tortosa (Feb 11–14 2026). Afonso Petronilho presented his poster on the reproductive ecology of Succisella carvalhoana, a critically endangered Portuguese endemic. A great and inspiring meeting as always, with valuable discussions and networking opportunities.🐝💪💯

Yesterday in the Mata de Santa Catarina, an Eristalis hoverfly during its daily grooming routine 🪰 A small but meticulous ritual, cleaning wings and antennae, keeping flight performance at its best. Even brief sunny intervals matter.

At the FLOWer Lab we’ve been scouting new sites in Coimbra for future Butterfly Monitoring transects 🦋 Over the next few days, we’ll share some of the small natural gems we found on this first truly sunny day in a long time ☀️ Starting with this fern, cf. Polypodium, and its remarkable sori.

We were delighted to host @juliaosterman.bsky.social over the past three weeks. 🐝🌸 This week, she gave the talk “Improving our understanding of pollinators’ pesticide risk”. Thank you, Julia, for the inspiring exchange and collaboration. We hope to welcome you back! Next time with some sunshine ☀️!

Coimbra hosted the BeeConnected SUDOE participatory workshop 🐝 Stakeholders worked in groups to identify threats to pollinators, prioritize actions and co-create solutions for urban biodiversity. Thank you to all participants for your engagement and valuable contributions. 🌼 #BeeConnectedSUDOE

Até já Carolina! Foi um gosto enorme aprendermos contigo ao longo destes dois últimos anos! Estamos sempre aqui para o que necessitares! Muito obrigado por tudo! Boa sorte e muito sucesso para esta nova etapa!

Dia Internacional das Mulheres e Meninas na Ciência #WomenInScience

Jantar de Rainhas e Reis do FLOWer Lab na boa companhia de muitas das caras-metade dos membros do FLOWer Lab! Um 2026 cheio de ação, biodiversidade e interações planta-polinizador! Queens and Kings Dinner, wishing for a 2026 full of action, biodiversity, and plant–pollinator interactions!

[1/3] We’re closing out the year with THREE new tools for pollinator identification. 1) Bee image database: Explore over 8,000 macro images covering more than 2,000 European Wild Bee species. Search by family, genus, or country to see diagnostic features in vivid detail 🐝 pollinatoracademy.eu/images

Happy holidays and a 2026 full of nature! 🎄 From the FLOWer Lab we wish you happy days, many discoveries and time to appreciate the plants, pollinators and the whole natural world around us. 🌸🐝

Super excited to see the EU Delegation Act to monitor pollinators finally published: eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/...

The @ec.europa.eu approved the EU-PoMS, the new pollinator scheme that harmonises monitoring across the EU. The first period runs from 2027 to 2030. The PT-PoMS proposal developed in PolinizAÇÃO and submitted to ICNF is fully aligned with the Delegated Act. 🐝💛 📃 eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

A Comissão Europeia aprovou o EU-PoMS, o novo esquema que harmoniza a monitorização de polinizadores na UE. O primeiro período abrange 2027 a 2030. A proposta de PT-PoMS desenvolvida no PolinizAÇÃO e entregue ao ICNF está alinhada com o Ato Delegado aprovado. 🐝💛 📃 eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...

Magusto 2025! Bonfire chestnut celebration 2025!

🐝 Os polinizadores valem milhões... Um novo estudo do FLOWer Lab revela que garantem mais de 2 mil milhões de €/ano à agricultura PT, sendo 1,1 mil milhões assegurados por polinizadores selvagens. Protegê-los é vital para a nossa alimentação, economia e futuro. Notícia: www.uc.pt/fctuc/notici...

🐝 Pollinators are worth billions. A new study from the FLOWer Lab shows they secure over €2B/year for PT agriculture, with €1.1B coming from wild pollinators. Protecting them is essential for our food, economy and future. Read it: link.springer.com/article/10.1... News: www.uc.pt/fctuc/notici...

O suspense acabou… 🤭 Já podemos revelar a data e o programa de inauguração da nova exposição do #PavilhaodoConhecimento: “SUPERBICHOS! Incríveis por Natureza”. 📢 Marquem na agenda: 24 de outubro, sexta-feira, a partir das 18.30. Entrada livre. Programa: www.pavconhecimento.pt/exposicoes/s...

#OpenAccess Flowering synchrony and cultivar compatibility as key factors for optimising sweet cherry pollination and production 🍒 doi.org/10.1111/aab.... 🌸 It's essential to include compatibility & regional flower phenology in orchard design 🌸 @catarinasiopa.bsky.social @jloureiro13.bsky.social

Very proud to hear this wonderful talk by #SilviaCastro from @pollinet.bsky.social. 👏 #SPECO has been very well represented at @sibecol.bsky.social #congress

The Dutch Grassland Butterfly indicator (www.clo.nl/indicatoren/...) shows a decline of more than 70%. It will be hard to achieve an increasing trend in 2030, as required in art 11 in the Nature Restoration Regulation (eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-conten...).

Las moscas florícolas (Syrphidae) son insectos altamente beneficiosos: mientras que los adultos polinizan, sus larvas contribuyen al reciclaje de la materia orgánica 🍂 o al control de plagas agrícolas. Os dejo aquí una lámina genial con las especies del género Eristalis de la península ibérica 😉👇

How to create a #nature-literate society. My latest article @theconversation.com Revaluing naturalists' skills is essential for a future where we work with, not against, nature. Notice Name Nurture #GreenJobs theconversation.com/heres-how-to... @uclnews.bsky.social @curlewaction.bsky.social

Ontem foi um dia muito bonito! Obrigado a todos os envolvidos! Visitem a exposição Pequenos Gigantes - Guardiões da Biodiversidade para ficarem a conhecer melhor alguns da diversidade de polinizadores que podem encontrar em Portugal através do olho e da lente do Albano Soares!

🌿 New publication with FLOWer Lab’s contribution! With Sílvia Castro, led by Catarina Gomes from Madeira Botanical Group, this study on Musschia wollastonii reveals its mixed reproductive system—self-pollination and insect pollinators, mostly hoverflies and butterflies. Many act as pollen robbers!