Pollinator facts for kids
A pollinator is an animal that helps plants make seeds and fruits. It does this by moving tiny grains called pollen from one part of a flower to another, or from one flower to another flower. This process is called pollination. Pollination is essential for many plants to create new seeds.
Most pollinators are insects, like all kinds of bees, many types of wasps, ants, different kinds of flies, butterflies, moths, and beetles. Some larger animals also help, including bats and birds. Even some monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents, and lizards can be pollinators. Birds like hummingbirds with long beaks are great at pollinating flowers with deep shapes. Humans can also help plants reproduce through artificial pollination.
It's important to know that a pollinator is different from a pollenizer. A pollenizer is a plant that provides the pollen for the pollination process.
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How Plants Attract Pollinators
Plants have special features to attract the right pollinators. These features are like advertisements for animals! They include the flower's size, its shape, its color (some even have patterns only visible in ultraviolet light), its smell, and how much nectar it offers. Nectar is a sweet liquid that gives pollinators energy.
For example, birds often visit red flowers that have long, narrow tubes and lots of nectar. Beetles, on the other hand, might prefer wider flowers with less nectar but plenty of pollen. If scientists change these features, fewer pollinators might visit the flowers.
Even though bees are very good at moving pollen, other insects are also important. One study showed that non-bee insects visited crop flowers very often, making up for their slightly less effective pollen transfer.
Scientists recently found that cycads, which are ancient plants not related to flowering plants, are also pollinated by insects. In 2016, researchers even found evidence of pollination happening underwater, which was a surprising discovery!
Types of Pollinators and Their Life Cycles
Insects as Pollinators
Insects are the most common and important pollinators for many plants.
Bees: Nature's Busy Workers
Bees are perhaps the most famous pollinators. They are often fuzzy and have a special electrical charge. Both of these traits help pollen stick to their bodies. Many bees also have special structures to carry pollen. Most bees have a "scopa" on their back legs or belly, which is like a brush made of thick hairs. Honey bees and bumblebees have a "corbicula," also known as a "pollen basket," on their hind legs.
Bees collect nectar for energy and pollen for protein. They use these to feed their young. As they move from flower to flower, some pollen rubs off onto other flowers, helping the plants reproduce. Social bees, like honey bees, need a lot of pollen to feed their growing families.
Beekeepers often manage honey bee hives to help pollinate crops. They make sure the bees are actively gathering pollen during the time the crops are flowering. This makes the bees very efficient at their job. While honey bees are very important for farming, many other types of bees, like bumblebees and mason bees, are also used for managed pollination.
It's interesting to note that honey bees are not native to the Americas. Native plants in these regions were historically pollinated by many different kinds of native bees. Sometimes, non-native plants can even help native bees by providing new food sources.
Butterflies and Moths: Elegant Pollinators
Lepidoptera, which include butterflies and moths, also help with pollination. While they aren't the main pollinators for most food crops, some moths are very important for other plants, like tobacco. Certain wildflowers rely completely on specific butterflies or moths for their reproduction. A famous example is the Yucca plant, which has a special relationship with the yucca moth.
Flies: More Than Just Pests
Many types of flies are important pollinators. Some bee flies and horseflies have very long tongues (probosces) that help them reach nectar in deep flowers. Hoverflies are also major pollinators worldwide, often considered second only to wild bees. While many hoverflies visit different kinds of flowers, some have special relationships. For example, some orchids trick hoverflies into pollinating them by mimicking the alarm smells of aphids.
Some flies, like carrion flies, are attracted to flowers that smell like rotting meat. These flowers trick the flies into visiting, helping with pollination. In high mountains, flies and bumblebees are often the only pollinators available. Even some adult mosquitoes, when they drink nectar, can act as pollinators for certain plants.
Other Insects Helping Plants Reproduce
Besides bees, butterflies, moths, and flies, many other insects visit flowers for nectar or pollen. Wasps, especially those that gather pollen for their young, can be excellent pollinators.
Beetles that eat pollen or nectar are also important for some plants, like those in the Araceae family. Thrips and even some ants can pollinate plants, though ants are sometimes more like "nectar thieves" if they don't move enough pollen.
Some plants, especially orchids, use a clever trick. They create smells and shapes that make male bees or wasps think they are trying to mate with another insect. When the male insect tries, it accidentally picks up pollen and carries it to the next flower.
Other Small Creatures as Pollinators
Scientists have found that some tiny crustaceans can pollinate plants underwater, like in seagrass beds. This was a new discovery, showing that pollination can happen in unexpected places! Later, a small crustacean called Idotea balthica was found to help a type of algae reproduce.
Vertebrates: Birds, Bats, and More
Bats are important pollinators for many tropical flowers, especially at night when they visit for nectar. Birds, like hummingbirds, are also key pollinators, particularly for flowers with deep shapes. Other animals, such as kinkajous, monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents, and lizards, have also been seen pollinating plants.
Humans can also be pollinators! Many gardeners hand pollinate their vegetables, either because there aren't enough natural pollinators or to keep plant types pure. This can involve using a small brush to move pollen or simply shaking tomato flowers to release their pollen. For greenhouse tomatoes, bumblebees are often used because they are very efficient at shaking the flowers to release pollen.
What Pollinators Need to Thrive
Pollinators need more than just flowers. Most native bees in North America, for example, build their nests in the ground. They collect pollen and nectar for food, but also leaves, petals, and plant resins to build and protect their nests. Eating a variety of different pollens can even make honey bees healthier and stronger against diseases. Over 30% of bee species also rely on non-flower resources, like leaves and plant sap, for building nests and staying healthy.
Protecting Our Pollinators
Pollinators provide a vital service to our planet. They help both wild plants and the crops we eat grow. In 1999, the Convention on Biological Diversity recognized how important pollinators are and the challenges they face. Today, many pollinator populations are declining. Some species, like Franklin's bumble bee, are even in danger of extinction. While the number of managed bee hives is increasing, this cannot fully replace the loss of wild pollinators.
A report from 2017 found that almost 1 in 4 native bee species in the United States is at risk of extinction. More than half of all native bee species are declining. This decline in pollinators is a serious threat to biodiversity, our food supply, and human health. About 80% of the world's crops need pollinators to produce seeds. Without them, many wild plants would struggle to reproduce, and a third of all wild plant species might not produce any seeds at all.
It's estimated that one out of every three bites of food we eat depends on animal pollinators. The decline in pollinator health means that our food systems could become less stable in the future. A 2022 study suggested that the decline of pollinators contributes to hundreds of thousands of early human deaths each year by reducing the availability of healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
The Problem with Pesticides
One major threat to pollinators is the use of certain pesticides called neonicotinoids (Neonics). These are widely used insecticides that can stay in the environment for a long time, contaminating soil and water. When honey bees are exposed to Neonics, they can have fewer offspring, struggle to build nests, have trouble finding food, and have weaker immune systems.
Working Together to Help Pollinators
Scientists are working hard to figure out the best ways to restore and protect pollinator habitats around the world. Many studies show that protecting and restoring natural areas is key to helping pollinator populations grow. For example, the native tallgrass prairie in North America, which was once home to over 300 species of flowering plants and many wild pollinators, now covers only a small fraction of its original size. Restoring such habitats is crucial. Environmental groups are also pushing for bans on harmful insecticides like neonicotinoids.
In the United States, President Barack Obama created a "Pollinator Health Task Force" in 2014. This group, led by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, was formed to address the serious decline in pollinators. The task force noted that honey bee pollination adds over $15 billion to agricultural crops each year in the U.S. They also highlighted the sharp decline in Monarch butterflies and the threats to commercial beekeeping. Scientists believe that many factors, including poor nutrition, loss of habitat, diseases, and pesticides, are harming bees.
In May 2015, the task force released a "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators." This plan outlined actions to reduce the impact of various threats. It set three main goals:
- To reduce honey bee colony losses during winter to no more than 15% within 10 years.
- To increase the Eastern population of the monarch butterfly to 225 million butterflies by 2020.
- To restore or improve 7 million acres of land for pollinators over five years.
Many projects focused on the I-35 corridor, a long highway from Texas to Minnesota, which is an important breeding and migration route for monarch butterflies. The task force also created a "Pollinator Research Action Plan" to guide scientific studies and a "Pollinator Partnership Action Plan" to encourage teamwork between the government and other organizations.
North America's Efforts
The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) works to improve pollinator health across North America. They hold conferences, create teams for public education, and develop plans to protect habitats. They have signed agreements with government agencies, helping to protect and manage over 1.5 billion acres of land.
Europe's Initiatives
The European Union has its own plan called the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. This includes the EU Pollinators Initiative, which aims to reverse the decline of pollinators by 2030. It focuses on understanding the problem better, tackling the causes of decline, and raising public awareness.
South America's Programs
The Healthy Hives Latin America 2020 program is a partnership that helps beekeepers and researchers monitor honey bee health. Started in Chile in 2015, it has expanded to other countries like Colombia, Argentina, and Costa Rica, helping to educate beekeepers and improve bee health.
Global Collaboration
The 'Coalition of the Willing on Pollinators' (Promote Pollinators) started in 2016. It's a growing group of countries and organizations working together to create policies and actions to protect pollinators worldwide. Currently, 30 countries are part of this important alliance.
How Plants and Pollinators Work Together
Wild pollinators often visit many different plant species, and plants are visited by many different pollinator species. All these connections form a complex network. Scientists have found that these plant-pollinator networks have similar structures in many different ecosystems around the world, even with completely different species.
This network structure is important for how pollinator communities survive, especially when conditions are difficult. Studies suggest that the way these networks are organized helps reduce competition between pollinators. It can even help pollinators support each other when times are tough. This allows many pollinator species to live together. However, it also means that if conditions get too bad, many pollinator species might disappear all at once. If this happens, it can be very hard for them to recover.
See also
- Self-pollination
- Pollinator Partnership
- Pollinator-mediated selection
