[Pollinator] Unlikely pollinators and unlikely pollinator plants

[Travis O]

Hello!
Everyone here is privy to the knowledge that pollinators come in all shapes and sizes. The usual culprits (Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, etc.) make up the largest portions of pollinators, but there are other arthropods that may play a role in pollination including earwigs and harvestmen.

Likewise there are plants visited by the usual culprits that surprise and go against literature, including my own observations of hummers visiting borage and Anchusa (both Boraginaceae, bee pollination syndrome) and native paper wasps in Crocosmia (typical bird pollination syndrome). In the link below, honeybees were seen on poison oak (Toxicoscordion diversilobum) and creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens, nonnative). Neither are common honeybee forage, though honey from the former is occasionally offered by some apiaries. Buttercups, however, are toxic to bees and are instead typically visited by flies and occasionally beetles (personal observations over many years). Follow the link:

http://www.amateuranthecologist.com/2016/05/floral-visitors-19.html

Also included are other arthropods (and a single gastropod) and their potential benefits to wildlife communities and gardens, and thus pollinators.

Thank you,

Travis Owen
Old Sol Apiaries
Rogue River, OR

www.amateuranthecologist.com
www.pacificbulbsociety.org

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