First, male gets heated up, then female, and then, you know - Harvard Gazette

"This is basically adding a new dimension of information that plants and animals are using to communicate that we didn't know much about before."

"We knew of scent, and we knew of color, but we didn't know that infrared could act as a pollination signal."

""Long before petals and perfume," said Valencia-Montoya, "plants and beetles found each other by feeling the warmth.""

Ancient cycads actively warm their reproductive cones, producing infrared radiation that functions as a pollination signal. Male cycads heat pollen cones first to attract beetles, and female cones heat later to draw those insects for pollen transfer and fertilization. Pollinating beetles evolved specialized infrared sensors that detect plant-emitted heat, enabling thermally guided pollinator behavior. Infrared signaling represents a communication channel that predates colorful petals and floral scents, indicating thermal cues as one of the earliest plant–animal interactions. Metabolic warming of reproductive structures thus serves to attract pollinators and coordinate pollen movement between male and female plants.

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