3 ms·
What is an example of a nectar-stealing non-pollinator? Doesn't anything rooting around in there end up moving around some pollen?
by xhkkffbf 1y ago
What is an example of a nectar-stealing non-pollinator? Doesn't anything rooting around in there end up moving around some pollen?
- creaturemachine 1y agoI'd guess hummingbirds.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- gus_massa 1y agoNo, hummingbirds also pollinate some plants. Random link from a Google search: https://www.nps.gov/articles/hummingbirds.htm#:~:text=Hummingbirds%20drink%20up%20to%20two,of%20color%20to%20our%20landscapes. https://www.nps.gov/articles/hummingbirds.htm#:~:text=Hummin...
- IAmBroom 1y agoSome is not all, and hummingbirds may well steal nectar from less tubular flowers.
- nemo 1y agoSome plants actually have evolved to be pollinated by hummingbirds, they have long thin tube shaped flowers that a hummingbird beak can travel up. The Sword-billed hummingbird has an incredibly long beak due to mutual evolution with flowers that grew deep tubes.
- Aloisius 1y agoSome carpenter bees will bite straight through the flower bypassing the stamens and stigma. Sometimes it's just an anatomy mismatch - like very small bee species and big open flowers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectar_robbing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectar_robbing
- nemo 1y agoTake a look at the Flowerpiercers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowerpiercer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowerpiercer They're true parasites, piercing the flower to drink nectar without any chance of pollination.
- HelloMcFly 1y agoThe most common example are ants. Moths are often guilty of this as well.