Hello Amanda:
There is a considerable literature, particularly from the 20th
Century on the role played by various mosquito species in pollinating
woodland flowers, particularly the small orchid species (Platanthera)
but other northern orchid genera as well. Many of these orchids have
an "ambush device" which comes in the form of a pollinarium (very sticky
pollen sacs) which get affixed to a visiting female mosquito's body as
she probes for the nectar offered by these orchids. Mosquitoes are weak
insects and can't dislodge these pollen structures so one can often
catch a few females flying around with them. Some years ago I wrote a
summary article on pollination of northern orchids. It has been
published in "Legacy, a Natural History of Ontario" edited by John B.
Theberge. It might be found on the web. You should be able to find the
book on E-bay, or Amazon.
_________________
Ted Mosquin
Amanda Quillen wrote:
Can anyone speak about the capacity of mosquitoes themselves as
pollinators? I know they spend much more time eating nectar than blood
(which only the females do when they are breeding). I wondered if anyone
happened to know how effective they are as pollinators.
Also, could it be helpful to consider pollinators or insects as
a "keystone group"? Removing the occupiers of a "niche" could certainly
effect the whole system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-
[email protected]] On Behalf Of James Crants
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:00 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Mosquitoes as keystone species?
I agree with you the rest of your post, except to say that not all
mosquitoes are human-feeders, and not all are WNV-vectors (only those
that bite both birds and mammals are).
Fewer bees probably does equate with fewer flowering plants.
In the same spirit, I should add that many flowering plants are long-
lived perennials, many use pollinators other than bees (possibly in
addition to bees), and many are capable of pollinating themselves or
producing seeds asexually (and, if you want to call clonal
growth "reproduction," a whole lot of them do that, too). So their
abundances cannot be expected to track bee abundances very closely. On
the other hand, if flowering plant abundance IS strongly correlated with
bee abundance across space or time in your study system, it could be the
bee populations that are tracking the plant populations.
This is what makes ecology so challenging!
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