May 20 is World Bee Day. It is a world-wide celebration of what has been declared the single most important animal on earth. It’s staggering to think of what they do for us and the planet. Around 70% of the world’s agriculture depends exclusively on bees for pollination and this doesn’t even cover what they […]
For the next several paragraphs, we’ll be talking about a few very special flying creatures (and some others) that are called pollinators — to whom we owe huge thanks for providing much of the food we eat! Without these pollinators to carry their pollen from flower to flower, plants could not form fruits or seeds […]
In economic terms, bees far outstrip butterflies and moths as pollinators. However, there are some plants that are exclusively pollinated by butterflies — especially some wildflowers and garden ornamentals — and several night-blooming species are specifically pollinated by hawkmoths. Butterflies and moths are members of the insect order “Lepidoptera” — the scaly-winged insects. In addition […]
