Pollinators and Pollination Nearly all the food we eat is made possible by pollinators The human race cannot survive without them Eighty percent of the world’s 1,400 crop plants depend on visits from pollinators In the United States the pollination of crops is valued at 10 billion dollars per year 4
Entomologists are scientists who study insects They focus on life cycle habitat distribution physiology behavior ecology and the population of insects Anthecologists or pollination biologists study the process of pollination and relationships between flowers and pollinators Plants and pollinators have developed their close relationships for millions of years 5
Pollination is the process of moving pollen grains from the male anther part of a flower to the female stigma part of a flower While it can happen naturally through wind or water it’s often due to insects birds and small mammals 6
pollen grains Insects pollinate when they visit flowers containing pollen a sticky yellowish substance Many insects have pollen-trapping hairs on their bodies or pollen baskets on their hind legs They transfer pollen while visiting their food source called biotic pollination Once pollinated seeds grow 7
