Gongora orchid in Panama.
But euglossine bees are not known to live up high in the Andes, where scientists have also spotted these orchids. “Are bees going up rivers to get oils, and coming back down to live?” Coffey wonders. “Or is there another insect that has a relationship with these orchids?”
That s where SlothBot comes in.
Examining rainforest wildlife is not easy. Researchers must install massive nets between trees to help them gain access to certain species, but these nets are expensive, hard to deploy, and they interfere with the surrounding natural habitat. Humans are also big, loud, clumsy, disruptive. Meanwhile, a small robot could hang out undetected for long stretches of time, collecting data that scientists might otherwise miss.