Unseen pollinators: beyond bees - Vol 4 Sneak Peek

When thinking of pollinators, your mind will almost always go straight to bees and their close relatives. But which other animals fulfil the same niche?

Article by: Amber Wyard

Artwork by: Leoni Fretwell

In the rainforests of eastern Madagascar, high up in the trees, lives one of the world’s largest pollinators.

Black and white or dark orange in colour, looking after their young in nests, and loudly calling to one another is the ruffed lemur.

This large primate species is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a pollinator, we usually picture a small, stripey insect instead. But there’s a lot more to pollination than bees.

Pollination is the key to a thriving natural world

Everything in our living world is interconnected. Whether animal, plant, fungi or microorganism, all species rely on the existence of others in order to survive. Some animals rely on the presence of others as their source of food, whereas some animals need plants to provide shelter, and some plants depend on animal species to help them reproduce. This last example is known as ‘pollination’.

Pollination involves the flower part of a plant, in other words where the pollen is stored. Pollen is found on the stamen in the middle of a flower and, in order for pollination to occur, the pollen must be transferred to another part of the flower called the stigma. Some plants can self-pollinate, but many rely on a process called ‘cross-pollination’, which requires their pollen to be carried to another plant. This is where our pollinators come in.

Pollinators are animal species that feed on a sugary substance produced by the flower called nectar. As the pollinators feed, pollen becomes attached to them and is transported as the pollinators move from flower to flower. This means that pollinator species are crucial to an ecosystem’s survival. Without pollinators, many plants would not be able to reproduce, which of course will then have an impact on the entire food chain.

Bees are one of our most important pollinators

When it comes to pollinators, many of us are quick to think some sort of insect, bees in particular. It’s no surprise that bees are the first thing that comes to mind, with more than 16,000 species worldwide that feed primarily on nectar, bees are one of our most important pollinators.

However, bees aren’t the only insect pollinator out there.

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