Pollinators
Introduction
Most people know that bees and butterflies are pollinators, but there are many others including moths, beetles, wasps, some mammals including micro bats, flies including hoverflies and mosquitoes, as well as some birds - specifically hummingbirds.
Some of these pollinators are specialists, who have developed hairy bodies to maximize pollen spread, long bills and tongues, or special abilities including hovering in one space so that they can drink nectar without landing.
Types of Pollinators
The following aren't listed in any particular order at this time.
Biotic Factors
In other words "animals" do a lot of work each year, pollinating fruits, vegetables, and wildflowers around the world. Some are specialized, while others are generalists. This means some have evolved to access nectar with specialized features, such as extra long feeding adaptations (some species of hummingbirds), while others might feed from and pollinate hundreds of different flowering species.
Bees
Wasps
Many people dislike and even persecute wasps out of fear, but most species can be quite docile when humans treat them with respect.
Wasps can be both predators and pollinators.
"Special relationship with orchid – Wasps are well known for their specialized pollination relationship with orchids, with at least 100 species of orchids solely dependent on wasps for pollination. Among these, pollination by sexual deception may be among the most fascinating specialized pollination systems that exist." - Maryland Agronomy News
Butterflies
Moths
Hoverflies
Mosquitoes
Beetles
Hummingbirds
These incredible birds are specially designed to drink nectar while hovering in the air. Some are specially adapted for certain flowers, while others are more generalist in their diets. Some migrate astonishing distances each year, even over open oceans, while others confine themselves to very small regions where they live year-round.
During migration, flowers can be hard to find, so some species follow behind migrating sapsuckers who open up holes in tree trunks, allowing the hummingbirds to access the sugary sap that seeps out.
Other
Wind
"Wind pollinator flowers may be small, no petals, and no special colors, odors, or nectar. These plants produce enormous numbers of small pollen grains. For this reason, wind-pollinated plants may be allergens, but seldom are animal-pollinated plants allergenic. Their stigmas may be large and feathery to catch the pollen grains. Insects may visit them to collect pollen, but usually are ineffective pollinators and exert little natural selection on the flowers. Anemophilous, or wind pollinated flowers, are usually small and inconspicuous, and do not possess a scent or produce nectar. The anthers may produce a large number of pollen grains, while the stamens are generally long and protrude out of flower. There are also examples of ambophilous (pollinated by two different classes of pollinators) flowers which are both wind and insect pollinated.
Most conifers and about 12% of the world’s flowering plants are wind-pollinated. Wind pollinated plants include grasses and their cultivated cousins, the cereal crops, many trees, the infamous allergenic ragweeds, and others. All release billions of pollen grains into the air so that a lucky few will hit their targets." - US Forest Service: Wind and Water Pollination
Water
"Pollen floats on the water's surface drifting until it contacts flowers. This is called surface hydrophily, but is relatively rare (only 2% of pollination is hydrophily). This water-aided pollination occurs in waterweeds and pondweeds. In a very few cases, pollen travels underwater. Most aquatic plants are insect-pollinated, with flowers that emerge from the water into the air." - US Forest Service: Wind and Water Pollination
