Sowing wildflowers in cities can help pollinating insects - study

Small patches of wildflowers sown in cities can be a good substitute for a natural meadow, according to a study showing that butterflies, bees and hoverflies like them just as much.

- Phoebe Weston

Councils are increasingly making space for wildflower meadows in cities in an attempt to tackle insect decline, but their role in helping pollinating insects was unclear.

Researchers working in the Polish city of Warsaw wanted to find out if these efforts were producing good results.

They found there was no difference in the diversity of species that Visited sown wildflower meadows in cities compared with natural ones, according to the study, published in the journal Ecological Entomology and led by researchers from Warsaw University.