Animal pollinators play a crucial role in flowering plant reproduction and in the production of most fruits and vegetables. Most plants require the assistance of pollinators to produce seeds and fruit. About 79% of all flowering plants and over three-quarters of the staple crop plants that feed humankind rely on the animal pollinators.
Pollinators visit flowers in search of food, mates, shelter, and nest-building materials. The energy that powers pollinator growth, metamorphosis, flight, and reproduction comes from sugars in nectar and the proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals from pollen grains.
The secret bond of the partnership is that neither plant nor pollinator populations can exist in isolation – should one disappear, the other is one generation away from disaster.
Learn more: about these very important pollinators and the flowers they visit: