pollinators

A pollinator is the biotic agent (vector) that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or ‘syngamy’ of the female gametes in the ovule of the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grain. A pollinator is different from a pollenizer, which is a plant that is a source of pollen for the pollination process. Anthecology is the scientific study of pollination. Insect pollinators include bees, not only honey bees but solitary species and bumblebees; other insects including pollen wasps (Masarinae); a variety of flies including bee flies and hoverflies; lepidopterans, both butterflies and moths; and flower beetles. Vertebrates, mainly bats and birds, but also some mammals – monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents and some reptiles – lizards pollinate certain plants. Among the pollinating birds are hummingbirds, honeyeaters and sunbirds with long beaks; they pollinate a number of deep-throated flowers. Cycads, which are not flowering plants, are also pollinated by insects.