What is a pollinator?

A pollinator is an animal that carries pollen from a male flower to a female flower to fertilize the plant so that more can grow.

Most people know that bees are pollinators. Bees carry the yellow pollen from flower to flower. But not all bees are pollinators. And pollinators include other animals.

Insect pollinators include bees, wasps, ants, flies, bee flies, hoverflies, blowflies, mosquitoes, moths, butterflies, and beetles.

Bird pollinators include hummingbirds, honeyeaters, and sunbirds. They have long, thin beaks that they stick into tubular flowers to get the pollen.

Mammal pollinators include bats, monkeys, lemurs, possums, squirrels, rats, and mice.

Reptile pollinators include some lizards.

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM