Providing for our pollinators: Investigating how urbanisation affects the ecology of flower-feeding insects

Pollinating insects are declining due to habitat loss and climate change, threatening the pollination of crops and wild plants.

Plant-pollinator interactions may be particularly vulnerable in cities, where urban greenspaces provide variable habitat and floral resources.

However, the effects of urbanisation on pollinators remain poorly understood, particularly for important non-bee pollinators such as flies (Diptera) and moths (Lepidoptera).

Bees, moths and flies have divergent ecological niches, making it important to understand how these different groups are threatened by urbanisation.