POLLINATION

Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in the reproduction of

plants, thereby enabling fertilization and sexual reproduction.
In spite of a common perception that pollen grains are gametes, like the sperm
cells of animals, this is incorrect; pollination is a phase in thealternation of
generations. Each pollen grain is a male haploid plant, a gametophyte, adapted to
being transported to the female gametophyte, where it can achieve fertilization by
producing the male gamete (or gametes, in the process of double fertilization).
As such the Angiosperm successful pollen grain (gametophyte) containing the
male gametes (sperm) gets transported to the stigma, where it germinates and its
pollen tube grows down the style to the ovary. Its two gametes travel down the
tube to where the gametophyte(s) containing the female gametes are held within
the carpel. One nucleus fuses with the polar bodies to produce the endosperm
tissues, and the other with theovum to produce the embryo[1][2] Hence the term:
"double fertilization".

In gymnosperms the ovule is not contained in a carpel, but exposed on the surface
of a dedicated support organ such as the scale of a cone, so that the penetration of
carpel tissue is unnecessary. Details of the process vary according to the division
of Gymnosperms in question.

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

The receptive part of the carpel is called a stigma in the flowers of angiosperms.
The receptive part of the gymnosperm ovule is called themicropyle. Pollination is
a necessary step in the reproduction of flowering plants, resulting in the
production of offspring that are genetically diverse.
The

study

of

pollination

brings

together

many

disciplines,

such

as botany, horticulture, entomology, and ecology. The pollination process as an

interaction between flower and vector was first addressed in the 18th century
by Christian Konrad Sprengel. It is important in horticulture andagriculture,
because fruiting is dependent on fertilisation, which is the result of pollination.

Biotic
A hummingbird feeding
More commonly, the process of pollination requires pollinators: organisms that
carry or move the pollen grains from the anther to the receptive part of the carpel
or pistil. This is biotic pollination. The various flower traits (and combinations
thereof) that differentially attract one type of pollinator or another are known
as pollination syndromes. Roughly 200,000 varieties of animal pollinators are in
the wild, most of which are insects.

Entomophily, pollination by insects, often occurs on plants that have developed

colored petals and a strong scent to attract insects such as, bees, wasps and
occasionally ants (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), moths and butterflies

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

(Lepidoptera), and flies (Diptera). The existence of insect pollination dates back to
the dinosaur era.

Abiotic
Abiotic pollination refers to situations where pollination is mediated without the
involvement of other organisms. Only 10% of flowering plants are pollinated
without animal assistance.[citation

needed]

The

most

common

form

of

abiotic

pollination, anemophily, is pollination by wind. This form of pollination is

predominant in grasses, most conifers, and many deciduous trees. Hydrophily is
pollination by water, and occurs in aquatic plants which release their pollen
directly into the surrounding water. About 80% of all plant pollination is biotic.
[citation needed]

In gymnosperms, biotic pollination is generally incidental when it

occurs, though some gymnosperms and their pollinators are mutually adapted for
pollination.

The

best-known

order Cycadales and

examples

associated

species

probably
of

are

beetles.

members
Most

of

the

conifera

are anemophilous; they depend on wind pollination. Of the abiotically pollinated

species, 98% are anemophilous and 2% hydrophilous, being pollinated by water.
[citation needed]

Mechanics
Pollination can be accomplished by cross-pollination or by self-pollination :

Cross-pollination, also called allogamy, occurs only when pollen is

delivered to a flower from a different plant. Plants adapted to outcross or crosspollinate often have taller stamens than carpels or use other mechanisms to
better ensure the spread of pollen to other plants' flowers.

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

A European honey bee collects nectar, while pollen collects on its body.
Honey Bees Immersed in YellowBeavertail Cactus Flower Pollen

Self-pollination occurs when pollen from one flower pollinates the same
flower or other flowers of the same individual. [10] It is thought to have evolved
under conditions when pollinators were not reliable vectors for pollen
transport, and is most often seen in short-lived annual species and plants that
colonize new locations.[11] Self-pollination may include autogamy, where
pollen moves to the female part of the same flower; or geitonogamy, when
pollen is transferred to another flower on the same plant. Plants adapted to
self-fertilize often have similar stamen and carpel lengths. Plants that can
pollinate themselves and produce viable offspring are called self-fertile. Plants
that cannot fertilize themselves are called self-sterile, a condition which
mandates cross pollination for the production of offspring.

Cleistogamy: is self-pollination that occurs before the flower opens. The

pollen is released from the anther within the flower or the pollen on the anther
grows a tube down the style to the ovules. It is a type of sexual breeding, in
contrast to asexual systems such as apomixis. Some cleistogamousflowers
never open, in contrast to chasmogamous flowers that open and are then
pollinated. Cleistogamous flowers by necessity are self-compatible or self-

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

fertile plants. Many plants are self-incompatible, and these two conditions are
end points on a continuum.
Geranium incanum, like most geraniums and pelargoniums, sheds its anthers,
sometimes its stamens as well, as a barrier to self-pollination. This young flower is
about to open its anthers, but has not yet fully developed its pistil.
These Geranium incanum flowers have opened their anthers, but not yet their
stigmas. Note the change of colour that signals to pollinators that it is ready for
visits.

This Geranium incanum flower has shed its stamens, and deployed the tips of its
pistil without accepting pollen from its own anthers. (It might of course still
receive pollen from younger flowers on the same plant.)
Pollination also requires consideration of pollenizers. The terms "pollinator" and
"pollenizer" are often confused: a pollinator is the agent that moves the pollen,
whether it be bees, flies, bats, moths, or birds; a pollenizer is the plant that serves
as the pollen source for other plants. Some plants are self-fertile or selfcompatible and can pollinate themselves (e.g., they act as their own pollenizer).
Other plants have chemical or physical barriers to self-pollination.
In agriculture and horticulture pollination management, a good pollenizer is a
plant that provides compatible, viable and plentiful pollen and blooms at the same
time as the plant that is to be pollinated or has pollen that can be stored and used

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

when needed to pollinate the desired flowers.Hybridization is effective pollination

between flowers of different species, or between different breeding lines or
populations. see also Heterosis.
Peaches are considered self-fertile because a commercial crop can be produced
without cross-pollination, though cross-pollination usually gives a better crop.
Apples are considered self-incompatible, because a commercial crop must be
cross-pollinated.

Many

commercial

fruit

tree

varieties

aregrafted clones, genetically identical. An orchard block of apples of one variety

is genetically a single plant. Many growers now consider this a mistake. One
means of correcting this mistake is to graft a limb of an appropriate pollenizer
(generally a variety of crabapple) every six trees or so.[citation needed]

The wasp Mischocyttarus rotundicollis transporting pollen grains of Schinus

terebinthifolius

Pollen vectors
Biotic pollen

vectors are animals,

usually insects,

but

also

reptiles,

birds, mammals, and sundry others, that routinely transport pollen and play a role
in pollination. This is usually as a result of their activities when visiting plants for
feeding, breeding or shelter. The pollen adheres to the vector's body parts such as

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

face, legs, mouthparts, hair, feathers, and moist spots; depending on the particular
vector. Such transport is vital to the pollination of many plant species.
Any kind of animal that often visits or encounters flowers is likely to be a pollen
vector to some extent. For example, a crab spider that stops at one flower for a
time and then moves on, might carry pollen incidentally, but most pollen vectors
of significant interest are those that routinely visit the flowers for some functional
activity. They might feed on pollen, or plant organs, or on plant secretions such as
nectar, and carry out acts of pollination on the way. Many plants bear flowers that
favour certain types of pollinator over all others. This need not always be an
effective strategy, because some flowers that are of such a shape that they favour
pollinators that pass by their anthers and stigmata on the way to the nectar, may
get robbed by ants that are small enough to bypass the normal channels, or by
short-tongued bees that bite through the bases of deep corolla tubes to extract
nectar at the end opposite to the anthers and stigma. However, in general, plants
that rely on pollen vectors tend to be adapted to their particular type of vector, for
example day-pollinated species tend to be brightly coloured, but if they are
pollinated largely by birds or specialist mammals, they tend to be larger and have
larger nectar rewards than species that are strictly insect-pollinated. They also tend
to spread their rewards over longer periods, having long flowering seasons; their
specialist pollinators would be likely to starve if the pollination season were too
short.
As for the types of pollinators, reptile pollinators are known, but they form a
minority in most ecological situations. They are most frequent and most
ecologically significant in island systems, where insect and sometimes also bird
populations may be unstable and less species-rich. Adaptation to a lack of animal
food and of predation pressure, might therefore favour reptiles becoming more
herbivorous and more inclined to feed on pollen and nectar.[14] Most species of
lizards in the families that seem to be significant in pollination seem to carry
pollen

only

incidentally,

especially

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

the

larger

species

such

as Varanidae and Iguanidae, but especially several species of the Gekkonidae are
active pollinators, and so is at least one species of the Lacertidae, Podarcis lilfordi,
which pollinates various species, but in particular is the major pollinator
of Euphorbia dendroides on various Mediterranean islands.
Mammals are not generally thought of as pollinators, but some rodents, bats and
marsupials are significant pollinators and some even specialise in such activities.
In South Africa certain species of Protea (in particular Protea humiflora, P.
amplexicaulis, P. subulifolia, P. decurrens and P. cordata) are adapted to pollination
by rodents (particularly Cape Spiny Mouse, Acomys subspinosus) and elephant
shrews(Elephantulus species). The flowers are borne near the ground, are yeasty
smelling, not colourful, and sunbirds reject the nectar with its high xylose content.
The mice apparently can digest the xylose and they eat large quantities of the
pollen.[18] In Australia pollination by flying, gliding and earthbound mammals has
been demonstrated
Examples of pollen vectors include many species of wasps, that transpo
particularly, hummingbirds, sunbirds, spiderhunters, honeyeaters,

andfruit

bats.

Plants adapted to using bats or moths as pollinators typically have white petals and
a strong scent, whereas plants that use birds as pollinators tend to develop red
petals and rarely develop a scent (few birds rely on a sense of smell to find plantbased food).
Anthropophily pollination by humans, often artificial pollination used in
hybridization techniques.
Insect pollinators such as honeybees (Apis mellifera),[3] bumblebees (Bombus
terrestris), and butterflies (Thymelicus flavus) have been observed to engage
in flower constancy, which means they are more likely to transfer pollen to other
conspecific plants. This can be beneficial for the pollinators, as flower constancy
prevents the loss of pollen during interspecific flights and pollinators from
clogging stigmas with pollen of other flower species. It also improves the

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

probability that the pollinator will find productive flowers easily accessible and
recognisable by familiar clues.

The agents of cross-pollination

Cross-pollination means pollen from one plant is transferred to another plant.
External agents bring about cross-pollination -- they're really just mechanisms for
pollen to be carried somewhere else. They key agents of cross-pollination are
wind, insects, water and animals
Some plants grow close together, in large groups, and they have light pollen
grains. In such plants, wind is the primary way pollen is picked up and carried to
other plants. Plants that use wind as their pollinating agent frequently have long
stamens and pistils (the male and female parts, respectively, of flowering plants),
and they can feel free to look as drab as they want: They don't need to attract
animals or insects in order to spread their pollen, so they don't have to show off for
Mother Nature.
Insects, meanwhile, also make good pollen haulers. Such cross-pollination agents
include bees, butterflies, moths and flies. Among the insects, bees, which visit
flowers to gather nectar, are the main pollinating agent. During this process, the
pollen brushes off on the bee's body and onto the next flower the bee visits.
Water, for its part, is the agent of cross-pollination in aquatic plants.Animals such
as hummingbirds, bats, snails, rodents, marsupials and lemurs pollinate tropical
flowers. Unlike plants that use wind as their primary pollinating agent, flowers
that need to attract animals for pollination are frequently colored brightly to draw
attention to themselves. They may even be scented, for much the same reason.
When insects and animals pollinate plants, it's not exactly a goal, some task they're
driven to perform. Instead, they pollinate plants by accident. When they eat from a
plant, they come in close contact with it and some of the plant's pollen will rub

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

against the animal and stick. When the critters move on to the next plant, the
pollen that hitched a ride on the animal or insect can make a new home on a new
plant by disembarking at the appropriate arrival gate [source: Missouri Botanical
Garden].

Water
Although pollen grains can be made to germinate in aqueous sugar solutions,
water alone in most cases has a disastrous effect on them. Accordingly, only a very
few terrestrial plants, such as the bog asphodel of the Faroes, use rainwater as a
means of pollen transport. Even in aquatic plants, water is seldom the true medium
of pollen dispersal. Thus, the famous Podostemonaceae, plants that grow only on
rocks in rushing water, flower in the dry season when the plants are exposed;
pollination occurs with the aid of wind or insects or by selfing. Another aquatic
plant, ribbon weed, sends its male and female flowers to the surface separately.
There, the former transform themselves into minute sailboats, which are driven by
the wind until they collide with the female flowers. In the Canadian waterweed,
and also in pondweed (Potamogeton) and ditch grass (Ruppia), the pollen itself is
dispersed on the waters surface; it is, however, still water-repellent. True water
dispersal (hydrophily), in which the pollen grains are wet by water, is found only
in the hornworts and eelgrasses.

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

Wind
Although prevalent in the primitive cycads and in conifers, such as pine and fir,
wind pollination (anemophily) in the flowering plants must be considered as a
secondary development. It most likely arose when such plants left the tropical
rain forest where they originated and faced a more hostile environment, in which
the wind weakened the effectiveness of smell as an insect attractant and the lack of
pollinating flies and beetles also made itself felt. Lacking in precision, wind
pollination is a wasteful process. For example, one male plant of Mercurialis
annua, a common weed, produces 1.25 billion grains of pollen to be dispersed by
the wind; a male sorrel plant produces 400 million. Although, in general, the
concentration of such pollen becomes very low about one-fourth mile (0.4 km)
from its source, nonetheless in windy areas it can cover considerable distances.
Pine pollen, for example, which is naturally equipped with air sacs, can travel up
to 500 miles (800 km) although the grains may lose their viability in the process.
Statistically, this still gives only a slim chance that an individual stigma will be hit
by more than one or two pollen grains. Also relevant to the number of pollen
grains per stigma is the fact that the dry, glueless, and smooth-surfaced grains are
shed singly. Since the number of fertilizing pollen grains is low, the number of
ovules in a single flower is low and, as a consequence, so is the number of seeds in
each fruit. In hazel, walnut, beech, and oak, for example, there are only two ovules
per flower, and, in stinging nettle, elm, birch, sweet gale, and grasses, there is only
one. Wind-pollinated flowers are inconspicuous, being devoid of insect attractants
and rewards, such as fragrance, showy petals, and nectar. To facilitate exposure of
the flowers to the wind, blooming often takes place before the leaves are out in
spring, or the flowers may be placed very high on the plant. Inflorescences,
flowers, or the stamens themselves move easily in the breeze, shaking out the
pollen, or the pollen containers (anthers) burst open in an explosive fashion when
the sun hits them, scattering the pollen widely into the air. The stigmas often are
long and divided into arms or lobes, so that a large area is available for catching

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

pollen grains. Moreover, in open areas wind-pollinated plants of one species often
grow together in dense populations. The chance of self-pollination, high by the
very nature of wind pollination, is minimized by the fact that many species are
dioecious or (like hazel) have separate male and female flowers on each plant.
Familiar flowering plants relying on wind pollination are grasses, rushes, sedges,
cattail, sorrel, lambs-quarters, hemp, nettle, plantain, alder, hazel, birch, poplar,
and oak. (Tropical oaks, however, may be insect-pollinated.)

Birds
Because the study of mechanisms of pollination began in Europe, where
pollinating birds are rare, their importance is often underestimated. In fact, in the
tropics and the southern temperate zones, birds are at least as important as
pollinators as insects are, perhaps more so. About a third of the 300 families of
flowering plants have at least some members with ornithophilous (bird-loving)
flowersi.e., flowers attractive to birds. Conversely, about 2,000 species of birds,
belonging to 50 or more families, visit flowers more or less regularly to feed on
nectar, pollen, and flower-inhabiting insects or spiders. Special adaptations to this
way of life, in the form of slender, sometimes curved, beaks and tongues provided
with brushes or shaped into tubes, are found in over 1,600 species of eight
families: hummingbirds,sunbirds (see The Rodent That Acts Like a Hippo and
Other

Examples

of

Convergent

Evolution),honeyeaters,

brush-tongued

parrots, white-eyes, flower-peckers, honeycreepers (or sugarbirds), andHawaiian

honeycreepers such as the iiwi. Generally, the sense of smell in birds is poorly
developed and not used in their quest for food; instead, they rely on their powerful
vision and their colour sense, which resembles that of human (ultraviolet not being
seen as a colour, whereas red is). Furthermore, the sensitivity of the birds eye is
greatest in the middle and red part of the spectrum. This is sometimes ascribed to
the presence in the retina of orange-red drops of oil, which together may act as a
light filter.

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

Although other explanations have been forwarded, the special red sensitivity of the
bird eye is usually thought to be the reason why so many bird-pollinated flowers
are of a uniform, pure red colour. Combinations of complementary colors, such as
orange and blue, or green and red, also are found, as are white flowers. As might
be expected, bird flowers generally lack smell and are open in the daytime; they
are bigger than most insect flowers and have a wider floral tube. Bird flowers also
are sturdily constructed as a protection against the probing bill of the visitors, with
the ovules kept out of harms way in an inferior ovary beneath the floral chamber
or placed at the end of a special stalk or behind a screen formed by the fused bases
of the stamens. The latter, often so strong as to resemble metal wire, are usually
numerous, brightly coloured, and protruding, so that they touch a visiting bird on
the breast or head as it feeds. The pollen grains often stick together in clumps or
chains, with the result that a single visit may result in the fertilization of hundreds
of ovules.
In the Americas, where hummingbirds usually suck the nectar of flowers on the
wing, ornithophilous flowers (e.g., fuchsias) are often pendant and radially
symmetrical, lacking the landing platform of the typical bee flower. In Africa and
Asia, bird flowers often are erect and do offer their visitors, which do not hover,
either a landing platform or special perches in the form of small twigs near the
flower . Pollinating birds are bigger than insects and have a very high rate of
metabolism. Although some hummingbirds go into a state resembling hibernation
every night, curtailing their metabolism drastically, others keep late hours. Thus, in
general, birds need much more nectar per individual than insects do. Accordingly,
bird flowers produce nectar copiouslya thimbleful in each flower of the coral
tree, for example, and as much as a liqueur glassful in flowers of the spear lily
(Doryanthus). Plants bearing typical bird flowers are cardinal flower, fuchsia, red
columbine, trumpet vine, hibiscus, strelitzia, and eucalyptus, and many members
of the pea, orchid, cactus, and pineapple families.

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

Mammals
In Madagascar, the mouse lemurs (Microcebus), which are only ten centimetres
(four inches) long, obtain food from flowers, and in Australia the diminutive
marsupial honey possums and pygmy possums also are flower specialists. Certain
highly specialized tropical bats, particularly Macroglossus andGlossophaga, also
obtain most or all of their food from flowers. The Macroglossus (big-tongued)
species of southern Asia and the Pacific are small bats with sharp snouts and long,
extensible tongues, which carry special projections (papillae) and sometimes a
brushlike tip for picking up a sticky mixture of nectar and pollen. Significantly,
they are almost toothless. Colour sense and that sonar sense so prominent in other
bats, seem to be lacking. Their eyesight is keen but, since they feed at night, they
are probably guided to the flowers principally by their highly developed sense of
smell. The bats hook themselves into the petals with their thumb claws and stick
their slender heads into the flowers, extracting viscid nectar and protein-rich
pollen with their tongues. The plants involved have, in the process of evolution,
responded to the bats by producing large (sometimes huge) amounts of these
foods. One balsa-tree flower, for example, may contain a full 10 grams (0.3 ounce)
of nectar, and one flower from a baobab tree has about 2,000 pollen-producing
stamens. Some bat flowers also provide succulent petals or special food bodies to
their visitors. Another striking adaptation is that the flowers are often placed on the
main trunk or the big limbs of a tree (cauliflory); or, borne on thin, ropelike
branches, they dangle beneath the crown (flagelliflory). The pagoda shape of the
kapok tree serves the same purpose: facilitation of the bats approach.
Characteristics of the flowers themselves include drab colour, large size,
sturdiness, bell-shape with wide mouth and, frequently, a powerful rancid or
urinelikesmell. The giant saguaro cactus and the century plant (Agave) are
pollinated by bats, although not exclusively, and cup-and-saucer vine (Cobaea

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

scandens) is the direct descendant of a bat-pollinated American plant. Calabash,

candle tree, and areca palm also have bat-pollinated flowers.

Bees
In the modern world, bees are probably the most important insect pollinators.
Living almost exclusively on nectar, they feed their larvae pollen and honey (a
modified nectar). To obtain their foods, they possess striking physical and
behavioral adaptations, such as tongues as long as 2.5 cm (1 inch), hairy bodies,
and (inhoneybees and bumblebees) special pollen baskets. The Austrian
naturalist Karl von Frisch has demonstrated that honeybees, although blind to red
light, distinguish at least four different colourregions, namely, yellow (including
orange and yellow green), blue green, blue (including purple and violet), and
ultraviolet. Their sensitivity to ultraviolet enables bees to follow nectar-guide
patterns not apparent to the human eye. They are able to taste several different
sugars and also can be trained to differentiate between aromatic, sweet, or minty
odours but not foul smells. Fragrance may be the decisive factor in establishing the
honeybees habit of staying with one species of flower as long as it is abundantly
available. Also important is that honeybee workers can communicate to one
another both the distance and the direction of an abundant food source by means
of special dances.
Bee flowers, open in the daytime, attract their insect visitors primarily by bright
colours; at close range, special patterns and fragrances come into play. Many bee
flowers provide their visitors with a landing platform in the form of a broad lower
lip on which the bee sits down before pushing its way into the flowers interior,
which usually contains both stamens and pistils. The hermaphroditism of most bee
flowers makes for efficiency, because the flower both delivers and receives a load
of pollen during a single visit of the pollinator, and the pollinator never travels
from one flower to another without a full load of pollen. Indeed, the floral

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

mechanism of many bee flowers permits only one pollination visit. The pollen
grains of most bee flowers are sticky, spiny, or highly sculptured, ensuring their
adherence to the bodies of the bees. Since one load of pollen contains enough
pollen grains to initiate fertilization of many ovules, most individual bee flowers
produce many seeds.

Examples of flowers that depend heavily on bees are larkspur, monkshood,

bleeding heart, and Scotch broom. Alkali bees (Nomia) and leaf-cutter
bees (Megachile) are both efficient pollinators of alfalfa; unlike honeybees, they
are not afraid to trigger the explosive mechanism that liberates a cloud of pollen
in alfalfa flowers. Certain Ecuadorian orchids (Oncidium) are pollinated by male
bees of the genusCentris; vibrating in the breeze, the beelike flowers are attacked
headlong by the strongly territorial males, who mistake them for competitors.
Other South American orchids, nectarless but very fragrant, are visited by male
bees (Euglossa species) who, for reasons not yet understood, collect from the
surface of the flowers an odour substance, which they store in the inflated parts of
their hindlegs.
WASPS
Few wasps feed their young pollen or nectar. Yellow jackets, however, occurring
occasionally in large numbers and visiting flowers for nectar for their own
consumption, may assume local importance as pollinators. These insects prefer
brownish-purple flowers with easily accessible nectar, such as those of figwort.
The flowers of some Mediterranean and Australian orchids mimic the females of

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

certain wasps (of the families Scoliidae and Ichneumonidae) so successfully that
the males of these species attempt copulation and receive the pollen masses on
their bodies. In figs, it is not the pollinators sexual drive that is harnessed by the
plant but the instinct to take care of the young; tiny gall wasps (Blastophaga) use
the diminutive flowers (within their fleshy receptacles) as incubators.
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
The evolution of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) was made possible only by
the development of the modern flower, which provides their food. Nearly all
species of Lepidoptera have a tongue, or proboscis, especially adapted for sucking.
The proboscis is coiled at rest and extended in feeding. Hawkmothshover while
they feed, whereas butterflies alight on the flower. Significantly, some butterflies
can taste sugar solutions with their feet. Although moths, in general, are nocturnal
and butterflies are diurnal, a colour sense has been demonstrated in representatives
of both. Generally, the colour sense in Lepidoptera is similar to that of bees, but
swallowtails and certain other butterflies also respond to red colours. Typically,
colour and fragrance cooperate in guiding Lepidoptera to flowers, but in some
cases there is a strong emphasis on just one attractant; for example, certain
hawkmoths can find fragrant honeysuckles hidden from sight.

R.S.D.Academy , session 2013 -14

BIBLIOGRAP
HY
org/wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination/Pollination
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467948/pollination/75904/Birds

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-agents-of-cross-pollination
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467948/pollination/75903/Wind

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