5 Types of Pollinators That Aren’t Honeybees
When the word "pollinator" comes to mind, most people immediately picture the common honeybee, graceful butterfly or maybe even a hummingbird. While these iconic creatures undoubtedly play crucial roles in our ecosystems and food systems, they represent only a fraction of the incredibly diverse world of animal pollinators.
Hiding in plain sight, often overlooked or even reviled, are a host of unusual and unexpected insect pollinators that contribute immensely to plant reproduction, ecosystem health, and even our daily sustenance.
The Unsung Architects: Beetles
Long before bees and butterflies graced the floral stage, beetles were among the earliest insect pollinators. This ancient lineage, with over 350,000 known species, boasts a significant number of flower visitors.
Unlike the more delicate feeding mechanisms of many other pollinators, beetles often consume pollen directly, and their movements can be a bit more clumsy, leading to a less precise but still effective transfer of pollen.
Flower beetle
What they pollinate
Beetles are particularly important for plants with "older" floral lineages, such as magnolias, pawpaws, and water lilies. These flowers often have sturdy, bowl-shaped structures, sometimes with strong, fruity or even musty scents, a testament to their co-evolution with beetles.
Magnolia flowers, for instance, are a prime example, often housing beetles covered in pollen. These plants evolved millions of years ago, long before many modern pollinators emerged, making beetles indispensable for their reproduction.
Checkered beetles, for example, are drawn to strong smelling, cup-like flowers or clusters of small flowers, contributing to the pollination of plants like goldenrod, sunflower, and yarrow in certain regions.
Benefits
The sheer diversity of beetles means they can fill various ecological niches, providing a broad base of pollination services. Their presence can be particularly important in environments where other pollinators are scarce or in areas with ancient plant species that retain beetle-adapted floral traits. Furthermore, some beetle larvae play vital roles in breaking down organic matter or controlling pests, adding another layer of ecological benefit.
The Buzzing Mimics: Flies
Hoverfly
Flies, often mistaken for bees or wasps due to their mimicry, are surprisingly effective and abundant pollinators.
This vast order (Diptera) includes hoverflies (also known as flower flies), midges, and even some species of mosquitoes, all of which contribute to pollination in diverse ways. Hoverflies, with their distinctive hovering flight and often striped bodies, are particularly important.
What they pollinate
Flies are generalist pollinators, visiting a wide array of flowers. Hoverflies are second only to bees in their importance for both wildflowers and crops, preferring open flowers where nectar is easily accessible. They are crucial for pollinating a range of plants, from common garden flowers to significant agricultural crops. They are important pollinators for apples, pears, blackberry, and rowanberry. Their ability to visit flowers across different families increases the resilience of ecosystems to pollinator declines.
Some more specialized flies target particular floral traits. For instance, "carrion flies" are attracted to flowers that mimic the smell of decaying flesh, like the pawpaw or the notorious corpse lily (Rafflesia), which emits a putrid odor to attract these unique pollinators.
Corpse lily
Tiny chocolate midges are the sole known pollinators of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), the source of our beloved chocolate. Without these minuscule insects, the world's chocolate supply would be non-existent.
We all love to hate on mosquitoes, but it’s only the females that bite us. The males eat nectar and can be important pollinators. Certain mosquito species, such as the snowpool mosquito (Aedes communis), are vital pollinators for specific orchids, including the blunt-leaf orchid (Platanthera obtusata), found in northern North America.
Benefits
The widespread distribution and sheer numbers of flies make them invaluable, especially in areas where bee populations might be struggling. Their diverse life cycles, with many larvae consuming pests like aphids, further enhance their ecological value. They offer a "pollination insurance" policy, contributing significantly to crop yields and biodiversity even when other pollinator groups are impacted.
The Night Shift: Moths
While butterflies flutter by day, their nocturnal relatives, moths, are equally important, often taking over the pollination duties after dusk.
Many night-blooming flowers have evolved to cater specifically to moths, emitting strong, sweet fragrances and displaying pale colors that stand out in low light.
What they pollinate
Moths are known for pollinating a wide variety of plants, especially those that bloom at night. Examples include tobacco plants, evening primrose, yucca, and a myriad of orchids.
Hawk moths, with their long proboscises (mouths), are particularly efficient at accessing nectar from deep, tubular flowers. They can travel significant distances, potentially dispersing pollen over wider areas than many other insect pollinators. Some studies suggest hawk moths can travel over 18 miles, making them important for connecting distant plant populations.
Hawk moth
Benefits
Moths ensure that a significant portion of the plant kingdom can reproduce, even those that have adapted to nocturnal pollination strategies. Their contribution to wild plant communities is immense, and they also serve as a crucial food source for bats and other nocturnal predators, further integrating them into the food web.
The Ground Dwellers: Ants
Ants, typically associated with picnics and foraging trails, are not generally considered primary pollinators due to their lack of wings and often aggressive behavior towards pollen. However, in certain specialized relationships, they do indeed contribute to plant reproduction.
What they pollinate
Ant-pollinated plants often have low-growing flowers close to the stem, making them accessible to these flightless insects. These flowers may have specialized nectaries that attract ants.
While not as efficient at pollen transfer as winged insects, ants can still move pollen between flowers as they crawl. An example is Small's stonecrop (Sedum smallii), a rare southeastern endemic plant whose pollination is aided by ants.
Benefits
While their contribution to overall pollination is less widespread than other groups, ants demonstrate the remarkable adaptability of pollination systems. In localized contexts or for specific plant species, their role can be crucial. Moreover, many ant species offer pest control services by preying on herbivorous insects, indirectly benefiting the plants they visit.
The Less Appreciated: Wasps
Wasps often get a bad rap, associated with stings and aggression. However, the vast majority of wasp species are solitary and play important ecological roles, including predation and, yes, pollination.
While most wasps are carnivorous, many adult wasps also feed on nectar and use pollen to supplement their diet, they inadvertently transferring pollen as they forage.
What they pollinate
Wasps visit a variety of flowers, particularly those with easily accessible nectar. They can be important pollinators for certain plants, and in some studies, they have been observed to become primary pollinators when bees are absent.
Fig wasps, for example, are absolutely essential for the pollination of figs, with a highly specialized and symbiotic relationship where the wasp enters the fig to lay its eggs and pollinate the tiny flowers inside. Without these tiny wasps, many fig varieties would not produce fruit.
Fig wasp
Benefits
Wasps contribute to the overall diversity of pollinators, providing redundancy in pollination services. Their predatory nature means they also help control pest populations, offering a dual benefit to the plants they visit. The specific co-evolutionary relationships, such as with figs, highlight their indispensable roles in certain ecosystems.
