When I talk about being kind to pollinators, I don’t just mean bees. They do do the lion’s share of the work in terms of pollination, however there are many other agents that are often overlooked. In the UK, hoverflies are the next most prolific pollinators, closely followed by butterflies, beetles, wasps and ants (yes that’s right – they have their uses! 😅).
In other countries, hummingbirds, reptiles, bats, and sometimes terrestrial/non-flying mammals help with pollination, including rodents and elephants! Lizards, such as geckos, help too. Some birds pollinate directly, but we don’t have any of those in the UK. Our birds can contribute to pollination indirectly when they eat insects off flowers; but insects are our best hope!
Some plants can reproduce asexually, but would not be able to produce fruit. Without pollinators, the sexual reproduction of plants could not take place unless humans got involved – we sometimes do in horticulture and agriculture, this is known as artificial pollination. Pollination is so hot, even Stacey Solomon is getting involved: In an episode of “Stacey & Joe”, she gave her pumpkins a helping hand!
Pollinators are the reason that flowers are fragrant, bright, and colourful. Sometimes blooms have markings which can direct the pollinating agents to exactly where they need to be(e) 😉🐝. Basically, sex sells, but in a slightly different way here 🤣 – it’s all about attraction, but attracting agents rather than other plants.
All Abuzz
I think my favourite type of pollination is buzz pollination. It was a close call between this and elephants – who doesn’t love a pachyderm 🐘 – but no matter how hard you try to make your garden elephant friendly in good old Blighty, Dumbo and his mates just ain’t visiting 😂.
But yes, also known as sonication, buzz pollination occurs most commonly with tubular flowers. The narrowing of the tube makes it impossible for the bees – mainly bumbles or solitary bees – to reach the pollen grains, which also tend to be smoother and unwilling to part from the anthers. Some plants don’t want their pollen to be wasted and have evolved this way to ensure that their pollen doesn’t simply fall out or get eaten, as it takes a huge amount of energy to produce it in the first place. Tomatoes, aubergines and blueberries are few examples of energy-efficient plants.
So where does the buzzing come in? Why, through a bee’s wings of course! By controlling their wings in a certain way, bees produce vibrations strong enough to trigger the release of an abundance of pollen. This covers the bee, who then sort of preens herself with her legs, collecting up the pollen into her corbicula or pollen baskets to take back to the nest. Now the plant has paid upfront for the delivery of the pollen; some grains will have been missed by the bee and will continue to cling to her hair. As the bee continues gathering pollen, these missed grains will end up transferring to, and fertilising, another flower.
How do I know that the bee in question is female?! Well only females collect pollen, while males are responsible for mating and spend the rest of their time guzzling nectar and sleeping. They do play an important role in pollination too but…😅
So, what’s in it for pollinators?!
Well, the primary food source for the majority of pollinators is nectar. This is produced in the nectary, which is situated below the anthers and the stigma. This makes it impossible for pollinators to partake of this sweet sugary substance without pollinating the flower. Some pollinators, like honeybees, eat pollen as well. This might sound like bad news for the plant, however much more pollen than necessary is produced, and some of it still gets transferred from flower to flower despite the snacking.
Often, pollinators, including bees, also like to eat ripe fruit. Some such pollinators, like fruit bats who live in Egypt among other places, also disperse seeds in their droppings, other agents can disperse seeds in a similar way to pollen dispersal. Either way, this form of symbiosis is called mutualism, as it has a positive outcome for all of the living things involved. I find it incredible how plants and animals have adapted (coevolution) over thousands, if not millions, of years to ensure each other’s survival.
Honey is made from nectar, not pollen, although due to the microscopic nature of pollen, honey inevitably contains it.
Not all bee’s make honey!
| Biotic Pollination Type | Pollinators |
| Entomophily | Insects |
| Chiropterophily | Bats |
| Therophily | Non-Flying Mammals: rodents, primates, marsupials |
| Ornithophily | Birds |
| Zoophily | Vertebrates – including reptiles |
| Elephophily | Elephants |
| Malacophily | Slugs & Snails |
Lastly, and probably most surprisingly, slugs and snails deliver pollen which sticks to their bodies and shells from flower to flower. They may be slower, but they are more active in the rain and at night when many other pollinators are dormant. They pollinate wild ginger (not the same as edible ginger) and trilliums, among others.
Now that we know a little more about the science behind pollination, I’m off on the trail (snails and slugs – geddit?!) to learn more about helping hoverflies and other pollinators 🐌🌺.
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Aaand the next Summer challenge is also coming to you in June, full of wildlife fun for the whole family 🦔🐛🐿️!