Cold-blooded living creatures need to warm their bodies to get the energy needed for any activity. This need is met by basking in the sun. However, according to a new study, it is known that insects have a heating center that other cold-blooded creatures do not have. Some insects warm their bodies in a hitherto unknown place: in plants.
Roger Seymour, a biologist from the University of Adelaide, Australia, stated that around 900 plant species are known to produce heat in their flowers. This heat, the workings of which are not yet known, causes the spread of aromas that attract the attention of insects that pollinate flowers. A report published by Seymour and colleagues in Nature magazine revealed that this heat can also act as a stimulant for pollinating insects. (1)
The researchers studied the Philodendron solimoesense plant, which grows in the French colony of Guiana and is pollinated by insects of the species Cyclocephala colasi. The scientists placed a small device inside the plant's flowers, and found that heat was produced at night, 4°C warmer than the temperature outside. This heat attracts the attention of a number of groups of insects towards the plants.
The research group then moved on to research on meeting the insects' energy needs, using a respirometer - a device that records the energy used by the insects. By placing the insects in these devices, the researchers found that the insects needed more energy to keep their bodies warm when outside the plants. An insect warming its body at night outside a plant uses two to five times more energy than an insect inside a flower.
Seymour stated that small insects such as C. colasi pay a "very high price" to stay warm, because they lose heat very quickly. Thanks to these heat-producing plants, these insects can divert more energy for feeding and breeding. These plants provide such a comfortable and useful environment for the insects that they spend 90% of their time in the warmth of the flowers.
The mutual behavior of plants and insects provides a fascinating example of cooperation. In short, a plant that is unable to move from its place needs a vehicle to transport its pollen to other plants. This need is met by insects that act exactly like delivery vehicles. On the other hand, insects have difficulty keeping their bodies warm at night. When the temperature drops, insects have to spend most of their energy to overcome this temperature difference.
At this point a process takes place that meets the needs of both living creatures: The plant raises its body temperature by approximately 4°C warmer than the ambient temperature at night. This is made possible by special arrangements in the plant's physiology.
However, how did this body warming behavior appear in the first place? In other words, what triggers the physiological process of this event? Can the plant think about attracting insects to meet its needs, and research the physiology of insects in terms of their need for heat and understand that providing heat for insects at night is a smart way? Definitely, no. These plants don't even have brains to think about anything. Since all of this could not have been designed by plants themselves, it is certain that there was a supreme intelligence that did the design. The supreme intelligence definitely belongs to Almighty Allah. Allah made plants and insects exist, and equipped both with the ability to meet each other's needs. He created countless such cooperative relationships and ensured that life in nature always runs in harmony. He is the one who fulfills all the needs of living creatures. In contrast, our Almighty God does not need anything at all.
As stated in the Qur'an:
Say: "He is Allah, the Almighty. Allah is the Lord on whom all things depend. He has no offspring nor is he begotten, and there is no one equal to Him." (QS. Al Ikhlaash, 112 :1-4)