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| Syrphid fly: wikipedia.org |
Preston LaFarge - UNT Anthropology Major
After a late February ice storm I am sure that the snow and ice will be mentioned in every one’s blog post. In northern regions snow is a part of daily life but in Texas it stops life as we know it.
Despite the snow the mandala smells sweet. The plums are blossoming. There are bees pollinating the flowers. I also see large flies on the blossoms and wonder if they are also pollinating the flowers?
According to the USDA Forest Service certain blossoms have adapted putrid smells to attract flies for pollination as well as male mosquitoes. The natural selection of traits to aid in pollination is called the pollination syndrome. As far as biotic pollinators are concerned there is bee, wasp, butterfly, moth, fly, bird, bat and beetle pollination.
Ecologist Alison Parker at the University of Toronto has stated that in some instances flies are superior to bees when it comes to pollinating. Bees do not always visit the same species after collecting pollen and what they collect is often less than is needed to pollinate flowers. So-called pollen-hoarding species are not always the pollinating work horse they are made out to be.
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have outlined the unique requirements that hybrid plums require for adequate pollination and the role of wild plums in commercial plum growing. What they found was hybrid plums need wild plums nearby in order to adequately pollinate the hybrid varieties. For the farmers in the Canadian prairie region, pure wild plums for sale (either seeds or seedlings) are rare but are the best at being pollinizers.
These facts have really showed me the depth of the process of pollination and how bees are not the end of a conversation on pollination.
After a late February ice storm I am sure that the snow and ice will be mentioned in every one’s blog post. In northern regions snow is a part of daily life but in Texas it stops life as we know it.
Despite the snow the mandala smells sweet. The plums are blossoming. There are bees pollinating the flowers. I also see large flies on the blossoms and wonder if they are also pollinating the flowers?
According to the USDA Forest Service certain blossoms have adapted putrid smells to attract flies for pollination as well as male mosquitoes. The natural selection of traits to aid in pollination is called the pollination syndrome. As far as biotic pollinators are concerned there is bee, wasp, butterfly, moth, fly, bird, bat and beetle pollination.
Ecologist Alison Parker at the University of Toronto has stated that in some instances flies are superior to bees when it comes to pollinating. Bees do not always visit the same species after collecting pollen and what they collect is often less than is needed to pollinate flowers. So-called pollen-hoarding species are not always the pollinating work horse they are made out to be.
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have outlined the unique requirements that hybrid plums require for adequate pollination and the role of wild plums in commercial plum growing. What they found was hybrid plums need wild plums nearby in order to adequately pollinate the hybrid varieties. For the farmers in the Canadian prairie region, pure wild plums for sale (either seeds or seedlings) are rare but are the best at being pollinizers.
These facts have really showed me the depth of the process of pollination and how bees are not the end of a conversation on pollination.
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