Many wild bees prefer flowers in the violet-blue range—in part because these blossoms tend to produce high volumes of nectar. But it's not easy for plants to produce blue flowers. Instead, a new study shows that many have evolved "blue halos" to allure bees, nanoscale structures on their petals that produce a blue glow when light hits them. The blue halo is created by tiny, irregular striations—usually lined up in parallel fashion—and is found in all major groups of flowering plants pollinated by insects, the scientists report today in Nature.

These 8mm shallow leaf dome sterling eco silver stud earrings have been enamelled with minuscule grains of glass in a mixture of aqua and kingfisher blue to give a vibrant pop of gorgeous colour so vital to our pollinators.