Pollinator

Vertebrates, mainly bats and birds, but also some non-bat mammals (monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents) and some lizards pollinate certain plants.

Honey bees, bumblebees, and their relatives do not have a scopa, but the hind leg is modified into a structure called the corbicula (also known as the "pollen basket").

Most bees gather nectar, a concentrated energy source, and pollen, which is high protein food, to nurture their young, and transfer some among the flowers as they are working.

It has also been found that non-native plants may have positive effects on native bee pollinators while also influencing their foraging patterns and bee–plant networks.

Spectacular examples include orchids such as Angraecum sesquipedale, dependent on a particular hawk moth, Morgan's sphinx.

Many bee flies, and some Tabanidae and Nemestrinidae are particularly adapted to pollinating fynbos and Karoo plants with narrow, deep corolla tubes, such as Lapeirousia species.

Other species do decay rapidly after ripening, and offer the visiting insects large masses of food, as well as pollen and sometimes seed to carry off when they leave.

The orchid species Epipactis veratrifolia mimics alarm pheromones of aphids to attract hover flies for pollination.

[16] Another plant, the slipper orchid in southwest China, also achieves pollination by deceit by exploiting the innate yellow colour preference of syrphids.

[17] Some male dacine fruit flies are exclusive pollinators of some wild Bulbophyllum orchids that lack nectar and have a specific chemical attractant and reward (methyl eugenol, raspberry ketone or zingerone) present in their floral fragrances.

A strategy of great biological interest is that of sexual deception, where plants, generally orchids, produce remarkably complex combinations of pheromonal attractants and physical mimicry that induce male bees or wasps to attempt to mate with them, conveying pollinia in the process.

Most native bees in North America are solitary, ground-nesting species that collect a variety of natural resources including pollen, nectar, leaves, petals and resins to be used as sources of food, supplies for their larva, or nest linings.

[35] More than 30% of global bee species depend on non-floral resources for nest building, protection, health, pest resistance, and alternative food sources.

Pollinators provide a key ecosystem service vital to the maintenance of both wild and agricultural plant communities.

In 1999 the Convention on Biological Diversity issued the São Paulo Declaration on Pollinators, recognizing the critical role that these species play in supporting and maintaining terrestrial productivity as well as the survival challenges they face due to anthropogenic change.

Today pollinators are considered to be in a state of decline;[37] some species, such as Franklin's bumble bee (Bombus franklini) have been red-listed and are in danger of extinction.

A 2022 study concludes that the decline of pollinator populations is responsible for 500,000 early human deaths per year by reducing the supply of healthy foods.

According to the Kansas National Park Service, native tallgrass prairie was widespread through North America and home to over 300 species of flowering plants.

[42] By restoring wild pollinators natural habitat and maintaining Earth's biodiversity, populations are assumed to increase.

On June 20, 2014, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum entitled "Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators".

The President's memorandum established a Pollinator Health Task Force, to be co-chaired by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The problem is serious and requires immediate attention to ensure the sustainability of our food production systems, avoid additional economic impact on the agricultural sector, and protect the health of the environment.

Severe yearly declines create concern that bee colony losses could reach a point from which the commercial pollination industry would not be able to adequately recover.

The area through which that highway travels provides spring and summer breeding habitats in the United States' key monarch migration corridor.

The action areas were: (1) Setting a Baseline; (2) Assessing Environmental Stressors; (3) Restoring Habitat; (4) Understanding and Supporting Stakeholders; (5) Curating and Sharing Knowledge.

That Plan provided examples of past, ongoing, and possible future collaborations between the federal government and non-federal institutions to support pollinator health under each of the national strategy's goals.

[47] The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) aims to promote pollinator health across the North America and has organized annual conferences since 1997, creates task forces to implement specific objectives that includes public education and policy research, and is developing strategic plans for conservation that looks to establish partnership between government entities.

11 pollinator-protection agreements have been signed between NAPCC and federal government agencies, responsible for more than 1.5 billion acres of land protections and management.

[52] The structure of plant-pollinator networks may have large consequences for the way in which pollinator communities respond to increasingly harsh conditions.