4 ms·
A lot of plants aren’t pollinated by bees. There’s pollinator wasps, flies, moths, butterflies… even birds and bats are pollinators
by chabes 2mo ago
A lot of plants aren’t pollinated by bees. There’s pollinator wasps, flies, moths, butterflies… even birds and bats are pollinators
- palata 2mo agoAnts as well
- Foobar8568 2mo agoYeah I was about to say ants with passion fruit flowers.
- williamdclt 2mo agomosquitoes too, though it pains me to give them credit for anything
- nkrisc 2mo agoTrue, all mosquitoes drink nectar, and only females of some species drink blood.
- twister2920 2mo agoand some species' females require a blood meal before laying eggs :(
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- broeng 2mo agoAnd olive trees have genders, with the male pollinating the surrounding females.
- BigTTYGothGF 2mo agoThat's pretty common in plants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioecy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioecy
- rob74 2mo agoOne of those moths is this guy, who (in flight, not so much in still images) looks and sounds like a miniature hummingbird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird_hawk-moth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird_hawk-moth
- fyhn 2mo agoI noticed these for the first time earlier this summer. Incredible insects! They really do give a hummingbird impression.
- thaumasiotes 2mo agohttps://satwcomic.com/two-birds-in-the-hand https://satwcomic.com/two-birds-in-the-hand
- barrenko 2mo agoVery common around my mom's house.
- VMG 2mo agorare instance where the German name Taubenschwänzchen ('little dove-tail') is nicer than the English name
- rob74 2mo agoThat reminds me that people who hear the word for butterfly (Schmetterling) in German for the first time usually think it sounds extremely violent. Ok, then again, "butterfly" sounds slightly disgusting if you think about it. But TIL that they actually have a similar root: the "Schmetter-" doesn't come from smashing, but from "Schmetten", a word derived from the Slavic "smetana" (cream). Apparently butterflies got their name from the popular belief that witches could turn into butterflies to steal milk or cream (and probably also other dairy products?).
- 317070 2mo agoFor many people, it is the other way around. It is very remarkable that there is a bird, which looks so much like a big version of this butterfly! After all, in Europe these butterflies are commonplace, but I've never seen the American bird in my life.
- danielheath 2mo agoAnd... wolves? https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4470 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy....
- FerretFred 2mo agoI have to say that if we're also talking about wild grasses, my wire fox terrier is also a pollinator. He collects an incredible amount of seeds and burrs during his walkies investigations and I have to pick them out of his fur afterwards (risky because he gets annoyed easily).
- rantallion 2mo agoSeeds are not gametes. While your dog may help spread the seeds, they are not assisting in the sexual reproduction itself.
- aaron695 2mo ago[dead]
- cmrdporcupine 2mo agoMy pawpaws (Asimina triloba) mainly need (house) flies to pollinate. They make their flowers look like meat. I have a couple 100 foot rows of them, it's tricky to get good pollination.
- adm4 2mo agothe little beetle that could, and pawpaw's are self-incompatible. -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba#Pollination https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba#Pollination
- cmrdporcupine 2mo agoplenty of sap beetles around here, but i don't tend to see them on my pawpaws. they come around later season when my raspberries ripen would not rule out the cash crop farming on both sides of me from doing a number on the insects, though i seem to have plenty overall. unfortunately an excessive number of japanese beetles
- mallomarmeasle 2mo agoMy grandpappy told me that if you want a good crop of pawpaws you have to hang a dead cat in the tree. I think dead cats were in greater supply back in his day. Fascinating flowers for a tree though. Red meat color and odor only a fly could love. For anyone that’s close, go to the upcoming Ohio Pawpaw festival! https://ohiopawpawfest.com/ https://ohiopawpawfest.com/
- cmrdporcupine 2mo agoYeah I've wondered about just really nasty ass stinky fresh manure around the base of each tree. That would attract flies. Probably a flush of nitrogen at exactly the wrong time tho. Most plants respond to that by pushing excess green growth instead of flowering and fruit set.
- pfdietz 2mo agoSolid cow manure is really low in nitrogen, though, and maybe 90% is organic N which is released slowly. Maybe you meant fresher manure.
- pfdietz 2mo agoAnd by wind. The major staple crops are all wind pollinated.
- HughParry 2mo agoIf you push me into a bush then you'll make me a pollinator as well
- tempestn 2mo agoWe've got a fly-pollinated bush in our yard. Smells like rotting death when it's wet to attract them. (I did not plant it...)