Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimetres or centimetres.

The finding, published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, suggests that this likely increases their efficiency and effectiveness as pollinators.

The University of Bristol team also observed that the amount of static electricity carried by butterflies and moths varies between different species, and that these variations correlate with differences in their ecology, such as whether they visit flowers, are from a tropical environment, or fly during the day or night. This is the first evidence to suggest that the amount of static electricity an animal accumulates is a trait that can be adaptive, and thus evolution can act upon it by natural selection.

Lead author Dr Sam England from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, explained: “We already knew that many species of animal accumulate static electricity as they fly, most likely through friction with the air. There had also been suggestions that this static electricity might improve the ability of flower-visiting animals, like bees and hummingbirds, to pollinate, by attracting pollen using electrostatic attraction.