The Pollination of Native Plants Heather Holm Overview Types of - PDF document

The Pollination of Native Plants Heather Holm

Overview Types of Insect Pollinators � Pollination � Access to Floral Resources � Flower Features & Attractants � Flower Development & Presentation of Resources � Green Sweat Bee Agapostemon sp. �

Types of Insect Pollinators Social Wasps Bees Solitary Wasps Flies Butter fl ies Moths Beetles

Types of Insect Pollinators Bees Over 4000 species of bees in North America 300+ species of bees in Minnesota Small Carpenter Bee Ceratina sp.

Types of Insect Pollinators Bees - Common Genera in Minnesota Mining Bees Long-Horned Bees Mason Bees Small Carpenter Bees Andrena spp. Melissodes spp. Osmia spp. Ceratina spp. Leafcutter Bees Small Resin Bees Carder Bees Digger Bees Megachile spp. Heriades spp. Anthidium spp. Anthophora spp.

Types of Insect Pollinators Bees - Common Genera in Minnesota Sweat Bees Green Sweat Bees Small Sweat Bees Halictus spp. Agapostemon spp. Lasioglossum spp. Yellow-Faced Bees Cellophane Bees Sweat Bees Sweat Bees Colletes spp. Hylaeus spp. Augochlorella spp. Augochlora spp.

Types of Insect Pollinators Bees - Common Genera in Minnesota Cuckoo Bees Cuckoo Bees Nomada spp. Triepeolus spp. Cuckoo Bees Cuckoo Bees Sphecodes spp. Coelioxys spp.

Types of Insect Pollinators Bumble Bees, Bombus spp. 18 species in Minnesota

Types of Insect Pollinators Visit Flowers to Feed on Nectar Social Wasps - Colony (Paper Nests) Yellowjackets Paper Wasps Bald-Faced Hornets Vespula spp. Polistes spp. Dolichovespula spp. Paper nests in trees Open paper nests on Paper nests in trees or in the ground horizontal surfaces, tree limbs, house sof fi ts

Types of Insect Pollinators Yellowjacket MOST insect stings are caused by social wasps NOT BEES Wasps Picnic Visitors Attracted to fruit, pop, meat Ground Nesting Colonies � Aggressive Flower Visitors Carnivores � Docile

Types of Insect Pollinators Construct Solitary Nests Solitary Wasps NOT Aggressive Great Golden Mason Wasps Great Black Wasp Digger Wasps Euodynerus spp. Sphex pensylvanicus Sphex ichneumoneus

Types of Insect Pollinators Solitary Wasps = Bene fi cial Insects Hunt crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, saw fl y larvae, caterpillars, beetles and bugs Thread-Waisted Wasps Grass-Carrying Wasps Potter Wasps Ammophila spp. Isodontia spp. Eumenes spp.

Types of Insect Pollinators Visit Flowers to Butter fl ies and Moths Feed on Nectar Long Mouthparts = Access to Deep Tubular Flowers

Types of Insect Pollinators Butter fl ies and Moths Large butter fl ies pick up pollen on their wings Small butter fl ies Butter fl ies prefer and moths pick fl owers with a large up pollen on landing platform their head and mouthparts

Types of Insect Pollinators Visit Flowers to Feed on Nectar and Pollen Beetles Soldier Beetles Long-Horned Beetles Chauliognathus spp. Cerambycidae Family Beneficial Insect Some adults and most larvae are predators of aphids

Visit Flowers to Feed Types of Insect Pollinators on Nectar and Pollen Flies Beneficial Insect The larvae of many syrphid Syrphid Flies (Flower Flies) Family Syrphidae fl ies feed on aphids Bumble Bee Mimics Wasp Mimics Bee Mimics

Types of Insect Pollinators Flies Tachinid Flies Family Tachinidae Bee Flies Family Bombyliidae Many have long, modi fi ed mouthparts

Pollination Mutualistic Exchange FLOWER = Food/Nesting Materials Nectar • Pollen • Resin • Oil INSECT = Transfers Pollen to Other Plants ~ Pollination

Access to Floral Resources Tongue Length Long Tongued Short Tongued Bumble Bees Yellow-Faced Bees Bombus spp. Hylaeus spp. Butter fl ies Syrphid Flies and Moths Family Syrphidae

Access to Floral Resources Size Small Able to crawl into corollas of different widths to feed on resources � Medium - Large Restricted by tongue length & fl ower access

Floral Features Flower Forms - Simple to Complex Easy Access Access More Restrictive Access Very Restrictive Composite Bilabiate Closed ‘Daisy-Like’ Flowers Requires a bee strong Smooth Beard Tongue enough to pry fl ower open Azure Aster Penstemon digitalis Symphyotrichum oolentangiense Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii

Access to Floral Resources Strength White Turtlehead, Chelone glabra

Floral Resources Pollen Collection - Bees Only female bees have pollen-collecting structures Pollen Basket Pollen Collection Pollen Collection (Corbicula) on the Hind Leg on the Abdomen Bumble Bees & Bees in the Leafcutter Most other bees Honey Bees Family (Megachilidae)

Floral Resources Pollen Collection - Packaged Pollen Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata

Floral Resources Pollen Feeding - Bees, Flies, Beetles Pollen is a source of protein Prairie Phlox, Phlox pilosa Jacob’s Ladder New England Aster Polemonium reptans Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Floral Resources Buzz Pollination Prairie Smoke Solomon’s Seal Geum tri fl orum Polygonatum bi fl orum

Floral Resources Attractants Flower Color & Color Contrast Nectar Guides New England Aster Prairie Phlox Symphyotrichum Phlox pilosa novae-angliae Wild Petunia American Pasque fl ower Ruellia humilis Anemone patens Stripes, spots or color contrasts on the fl ower

Floral Resources Attractants Flower Color & Color Contrast Yellow petals and stamens A human’s view of A bee’s view of only visual attractant black-eyed susan fl owers black-eyed susan fl owers � Bees do not ‘see’ red Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Wild Columbine Aquilegia canadensis

Flower Development Presentation of Resources Sequential Development Wild Geranium Geranium maculatum � O ff set development of reproductive fl ower parts limits self-pollination Male Phase Female Phase = Protandrous

Flower Development Wild Geranium Presentation of Resources Geranium maculatum Sequential Development - In fl uence of Pollinator Activity Mason Bees Small Carpenter Bees Syrphid Flies Osmia spp. Ceratina spp. Pipiza spp. Collect Pollen Feed on Nectar Feed on Pollen

Flower Development Bloodroot Presentation of Resources Sanguinaria canadensis Sequential Development - Self-Pollinating Flowers Self-compatible � Self-pollinates around the third day of fl ower opening � Flowers during fl uctuating temperatures and potentially low pollinator activity

Flower Development Presentation of Resources American Pasque fl ower Anemone patens Sequential Development Low nectar reward � Flowers track sun throughout the day creating a warm place for pollinators to forage Female Phase Male Phase = Protogynous

Flower Development Presentation of Resources Canada Tick Trefoil Pollen Presentation Desmodium canadense Keel Depressed Pollen Forcibly Flower Activated Ejected Leafcutter Bee Megachile sp.

Flower Development Presentation of Resources Harebell Campanula rotundifolia Pollen Presentation Pollinators visit for pollen and nectar � Male Phase Female Phase = Protandrous

Flower Development Harebell Campanula rotundifolia Presentation of Resources Pollen Presentation Pollen is shed from anthers and drops into the bottom of the fl ower � As the style elongates, hairs pick up the pollen grains � � � � Male Phase Female Phase = Protandrous

Flower Development Harebell Campanula rotundifolia Presentation of Resources Pollen Presentation Leafcutter bees collect/pick up pollen on their abdomen as they forage for nectar � Bees feed on pollen presented on the style �

Flower Development Harebell Presentation of Resources Campanula rotundifolia Pollen Presentation Hairs eventually retract, pollen falls o ff and the stigma becomes receptive Pollinators visit for nectar Female Phase

Flower Development Presentation of Resources Nectar Production/Nectary Location- In fl uence on Foraging Behavior Wild White Indigo Baptisia lactea Flowers develop from the bottom of the raceme upward � Nectar production peaks during the female (pistillate) phase � Male Phase Female Phase = Protandrous

Flower Development Wild White Indigo Baptisia lactea Presentation of Resources Nectar Production/Nectary Location - In fl uence on Foraging Behavior Flowers primarily visited by queen bumble bees in early spring � Bumble bees land on the lowest open fl owers on the raceme � Lowest fl owers are in the female phase producing more nectar � � Male Phase Female Phase = Protandrous

Flower Development Nectar Production/Nectary Location In fl uence on Foraging Behavior Presentation of Resources Enter Violets Upside Down to Feed on Nectar Downy Yellow Violet Viola pubescens Illustration redrawn from: Beattie, A. J. (1974). Floral evolution in Viola. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden , 781-793.

Flower Development Presentation of Resources Nectar Production/Nectary Location- In fl uence on Foraging Behavior Prairie Phlox Nectary at the base of the fl ower corolla � Phlox pilosa Anthers staggered - 2 near opening, 2 below � Anthers shed pollen fi rst (protandrous)

Flower Development Presentation of Resources Nectar Production/Nectary Location- In fl uence on Foraging Behavior Pollen Presentation Initial visits after fl owers open are by Prairie Phlox pollen-foraging pollinators Phlox pilosa �