[Pollinator] [beemonitoring] Smallest to biggest pollinator?

[Peter Bernhardt]

Dera Charley:

Thank you, that's entirely true about thrips.  They are regarded as primary
pollinators of a number of tropical trees including some mangroves.

Peter

On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 11:57 AM, Charley Eiseman ceiseman at gmail.com
[beemonitoring] <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:

>
>
> Regarding the smallest pollinators: a few years ago I spent a few minutes
> photographing insects on bluets (*Houstonia*), and I found a pteromalid,
> cecidomyiids, and thrips all carrying pollen from flower to flower.
> https://bugtracks.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/bugs-on-bluets/
> I don't know how many of these you would consider "real" pollinators, but
> someone commented on my blog post that many thrips are considered important
> pollinators.  He referred me to this paper as an example:
> https://www.mendeley.com/catalog/thrips-pollination-central-australian-cycad-macrozamia-macdonnellii-cycadales/
>
> Charley
>
> On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 7:56 PM, Peter Bernhardt bernhap2 at slu.edu
> [beemonitoring] <beemonitoring-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> [Attachment(s) <#-7632096145999532353_287649972_TopText> from Peter
>> Bernhardt included below]
>>
>> A nature photographer in Victoria, Australia has been contacting me about
>> his progress to record the pollinators of midge orchids (Corunastylis and
>> Genoplesium).  Take a look at the attached.  This is a scatopsid fly
>> carrying the pollinia from two orchid flowers but you will see it's barely
>> 1.5 mm long.
>>
>> This made me wonder about pollinator dimensions.  Is this fly smaller
>> than any of the known, female fig wasps that pollinate Ficus species?  What
>> is the smallest pollinator?  Yes, I know there is a Perdita bee about 1 mm
>> long but is it a true pollinator or a pollen/nectar thief?  What is the
>> largest pollinator on this planet?  I would guess it must be one of the
>> Pteropod fruit bats that also feeds on nectar and pollen, right?  The other
>> option would have to be one of the noisy friar birds (Philemon;
>> Meliphagidae) of Australia (about the size of a blue jay).  Once we get
>> some answers perhaps it should go on the NAPPC web page or on a poster.
>> It's the sort of thing that would interest prospective members and
>> educational bodies.  Everyone likes "gee-whiz" facts (especially when they
>> are Youtube videos)
>>
>> I've been measuring bee length, width and depth (top to bottom of thorax)
>> for years as this is very important in the pollination of flowers showing
>> bilateral symmetry.  It's like the tale of Goldilocks; too big, too small,
>> just right.  Size of forager vs. floral dimensions can determine whether
>> the floral visitor actually contacts male and female organs consistently
>> (especially in orchids and milkweeds).  Look at the members of the
>> Asteraceae (sunflowers, daisies, goldenrods).  Compacting lots of
>> itty-bitty flowers together to resemble a great big flower (pseudanthium; a
>> term introduced by Elmer Leppik) means that both big and little bees may
>> have a similar opportunity to act as pollen taxis.
>>
>> Peter Bernhardt, Prof. of Biology
>> Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
>> Research Assoc. The Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis, MO
>> Research Assoc.: The Royal Botanic Gardens and domain Trust, Sydney, NSW
>> (Australia)
>>
>>
>
>
> --
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