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Bug Blog

Which Type Of Pollen Is Carried By The Wind?

It is not commonly known that birds and certain flying insects are not solely responsible for plant pollination. The wind also successfully pollinates plants by blowing pollen from plant to plant.

If a particular type of pollen is large, it may weigh too much for it to be carried to another plant via the wind, and it will just fall onto the soil of the parent plant. In these cases, a bird or a flying insect needs to pick up the pollen and transport it to a plant in need of pollination. The chances of a plant becoming pollinated are much greater if an animal is physically transporting the pollen. This is due to the obvious reason that animals always bring the pollen to the proper type of plant while wind blows the pollen in all different directions.

Bees are particularly effective pollinators, as they have the ability to perceive ultraviolet lights reflected off of lines indented into the petals of plants. Bees use this light as a runway that directs them to the proper area to be pollinated. Humans cannot perceive these lines since humans obviously cannot perceive ultraviolet light, but the lines on the petals are visible to humans.

Which type of animal is the most effective pollinator?

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