Bumblebee with "solar battery"

According to a report in the journal Nature Science, Marianne, a researcher at Tel Aviv University in Israel, discovered that an Asian bumblebee has a built-in "solar cell" -- its exoskeleton or shell, which absorbs solar energy and exoskeletons Or the shell contains a pigment called xanthine, which converts solar energy into electricity. However, the bumblebee's efficiency is only 0.335%, while the man-made solar cells usually have an efficiency of 10%-11%.

Scientists have long discovered that some plants and bacteria can use solar energy, but it is extremely rare that animal bodies can use solar power to generate electricity. The researchers found that the brown shell of this bumblebee is made up of a large number of channel-like structures that can convert sunlight into scattered light rays; and one small oval-shaped protrusion on the yellow part has one or two pinholes. "Sag-like pits containing pigments that are tightly packed in the form of microparticles that convert light energy into electricity.

Researchers say that it is not yet fully understood how Bumblebees use these electrical energy. But they found that the bumblebee is always the most active when the sun is most intense. Unlike other wasps, they are very active early in the morning. Chris Lyal, an entomologist at the Natural History Museum in London, England, said that other insects may also have similar power generation capabilities. For example, a butterfly named Apollo butterfly on the Pyrenees, the largest mountain in southwestern Europe, had its first flight before takeoff. The sun-burning habit may be absorbing solar radiation.