|© Beatriz Moisset|
Ants are seen visiting flowers with great frequency. People often ask me: Do ants pollinate? I answer with another question: What do you think? Are ants capable of pollinating flowers? Do they have what it takes to carry pollen from one flower to another, preferably of another plant?
|Ants stealing nectar from the spur of a jewelweed. © Beatriz Moisset|
|Ants pollinating wood spurge. © Beatriz Moisset|
A few other plants, also low-growing, are pollinated by ants. Finally, there are some interesting cases of orchids pollinated by ants in Australia in a highly specialized way. So, yes, ants join the ranks of pollinators. They may even be the pollinators of choice for some plants in harsh, dry climates.
|Ant on Queen-Anne-lace. © Beatriz Moisset|
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© Beatriz Moisset. 2012