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Pollinator: an organism or animal that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization of the flower. Even humans can be pollinators!
One Hundred Thousand Pollinators and Counting
An eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus L.). Photo by Bruce Marlin, www.cirrusimage.com.
Pollination is defined as the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of the same or another flower. Pollination is required to produce seeds and fruits in up to 80% of the world's flowering plants, including 2/3 of the world's food plants. Also, exposure to pollinators may be a way of maintaining and promoting genetic diversity in crops and other plants. There are over 100,000 species - some counts estimate up to 200,000 species - of pollinators, including vertebrates such as mammals and birds, and insects and other invertebrates.
Recommended Reading
Cover of Conserving Migratory Pollinators and Nectar Corridors in Western North America (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Studies in Natural History) by Gary Paul Nabhan (Editor) (2004). (University of Arizona Press)
