In a nutshell, pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred from a flower's stamen (male reproductive organ) to the stigma that sits atop a flower's pistil (female reproductive organ). Pollination is responsible for plant reproduction and for the survival of species, both for the plants and the animals that depend on them. It is a critical process for the production of fruits and seeds that many animals, including humans, feed upon and enjoy.
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Hoverfly
This is a female Toxomerus geminatus, a very small species of hoverfly. This one is less than 1cm long.
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For the majority of flowering plants, pollinators are responsible for transferring pollen from one flower to another. They do this while going from flower to flower drinking the nectar and gathering pollen. Pollinators are responsible for approximately 1/3rd of the food we eat.
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| Hoverfly |
Plants have become specialized in attracting the pollinators to their flowers. They use scent, colour and shape. Some have become so specialized that they have certain adaptations to attract specific pollinators to their flowers. For example, some flowers emit a particular odor to attract carrion flies. These flies are tricked into laying their eggs in these flowers picking up pollen as they do. They then carry this pollen on to the next flower that they visit to lay more eggs depositing the pollen gathered previously onto this new flower and pollinating it in the process. The fly's offspring end up starving to death as the plant offers them no nutrition. Some other plants use sexual deception to attract their pollinators. These flowers will release pheromones and mimic the females of certain bees or wasps tricking them to visit the flowers. These poor insects visit the flowers anticipating meeting a female but instead they pick up the flowers' pollen and carry it off to the next flower that they land on thinking.
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| Cabbage White Butterfly |
Pollinators come in varying sizes and forms but all share in this very important function. Insects such as bees, pollen wasps, ants, flies, butterflies, moths and flower beetles are common pollinators along with bats and birds (especially hummingbirds). But, there are lesser known mammalian pollinators such as monkeys, lemurs, possums and rodents. Even some lizards are known for pollinating certain plants. Every single pollinator is important but some more so than others. For instance, bees are considered to be the main pollinator but hoverflies come in at a close second. These insects depend on nectar and pollen for their survival and go from flower to flower to obtain them. This in turn pollinates flowers during the process. (For more on bees and their role in pollination, please visit my blog post "Buzz About Bees".) Ants on the other hand only drink nectar from the flowers, occasionally picking up some pollen and depositing it on another flower if they visit one. Moths are important pollinators in their own right, they are the main pollinators for the tobacco plants.
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| Hoverfly |
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| Sweat Bee |
All pollinators, like many other animals, suffer from similar issues: habitat loss, disease, climate change & pesticide use. All these factors are causing a decline in their numbers. But, we can help increase their chances of survival and in turn ours as we are so greatly dependent on them by avoiding the use of pesticides, planting and growing native plants in groups, keeping a section of our gardens natural with undisturbed areas of fallen leaves and open soil for puddling (used by many insects, especially butterflies, for sucking up the liquid), nesting, sheltering and overwintering.
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Hoverfly
Another photo of the female Toxomerus geminatus.
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Resources & Further Reading:
https://www.ontarionature.org/protect/campaigns/pollinators.php
http://cwf-fcf.org/en/resources/encyclopedias/fauna/pollinators.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollinator
