What Insects Pollinate Flowers?

Pollination is important, not only in the flower garden, but also in the food garden, for fruit trees and for some crops. Without pollination the plants will not make fruit, seeds and nuts like they are supposed to. Pollination by wind is the way many fields of cops are pollinated, but in our gardens we need the insects to help us. This is just another reason why you would want to attract pollinator insects to your garden.

Insects that pollinate flowers are often called pollinators or pollinator insects. Have you seen insects flying from flower to flower in your garden, sitting on each flower that they visit? Those are probably pollinator insects that you saw. The most well-known of these are butterflies and bees.

Butterflies and Bees

They visit the flowers in the garden to eat the nectar that the flowers make. When they sit on the flowers some of the pollen gets stuck to their furry little legs and bodies. When they go to the next flower, some of this pollen sticks to the stigma of the flower and new pollen gets collected again. In this way the insects are taking pollen from one flower to another and without even knowing it, they are pollinating the flowers in your garden.

bee getting nectar from a flower — *Bee grabbing some much wanted nectar.*

butterfly getting nectar from flower — *Butterfly feasting on the nectar.*

Butterflies and bees are often brightly coloured and this helps us to see them easily. While there might not be that many of them busy pollinating the flowers in your garden, you will still easily notice them. Some of the other little worker insects are not so easy to spot and thir hard work is often not noticed.

We have mentioned the well-known butterflies and bees, but what other insects pollinate flowers?

Also well-known is the bumblebee. What many people don’t know is that bumblebees pollinate plants by a method called buzz pollination. While they feed off a flower their buzzing vibrates the flower and loosens grains of pollen. These grains of pollen fall from the flower and land on other flowers lower down. Like other bees, they can also carry pollen from one flower to another when it sticks to their fluffy bodies.

bumblebee buzz-pollination — *A bumblebee uses buzz-pollination to pollinate flowers.*

Moths

Did you know that moths also pollinate flowers? Moths are active at night and also feed on nectar. They prefer to visit flowers that open at night to get their supply of nectar. These are the night-shift workers in your garden, this is true for the majority of moths, as with everything there are exceptions. The Hummingbird Moth pictured below is active during the day.

hummingbird moth feeding — *Hummingbird Moth feeding.*

Flies

Yep that’s correct I did say flies. They can also often be seen visiting flowers, but because they are not normally brightly coloured we don’t notice them that easily. If you watch closely you will see that flies also fly around the flower garden and they are also helping with the job of pollination.

Beetles

There are many beetles that will visit flowers, these can also lend a helping hand. Can you think of any beetles that visits flowers ? Well have a look at the below pictures.

ladybirds or ladybugs on a flower — *Ladybirds on a flower.*

two rose beetles on a flower — *Cetonia aurata –* green rose chafer will feed on pollen, nectar and rose flowers.

Wasps and Spiders

We also have wasps and spiders that sometimes use flowers as hiding places, or they go there in search of prey. Without them knowing it they can also carry pollen around, pollen uses these two types of insects as kind of hitchhikers.