All About Pollinators: Bees, Butterflies, and the Insects That Feed Our World

How Butterflies, Bees, and Other Animals Ensure Our Gardens and Crops

We host beehives along our Burlington, VT property edge. Resident honeybees ensure well-pollinated gardens.

Monarch butterfly

How often have you seen a bee buzzing from snapdragon to squash blossom? At each visit, it laps nectar deep within the flower. When it backs out, pollen sticks to its hairy body.

Gardening for pollinators reveals a world more complex, fascinating, and important than we realize. Through simply seeking food, thousands of bee and insect species help plants reproduce. Of 240,000 flowering plants worldwide, 91% require an insect or animal to distribute pollen for fruit and seed set. That includes one-third of all human crops: citrus, almonds, berries, squash, cotton.

Bees are famous pollinators, but many butterflies, bats, birds, moths, flies, and even mammals also pollinate. They're so essential most plant life couldn't exist without them.

Despite critical service, pollinators are in jeopardy. USDA warns of an "impending pollination crisis"—wild and managed pollinators disappearing at alarming rates. U.S. honeybees down 25% in a decade due to parasitic mites. Wild pollinators threatened by habitat loss, pesticides, disease—just as we learn their value and efficiency.

You can help, starting in your backyard. Imagine a patchwork of pollinator gardens nationwide—building diverse beneficial insect communities.

A Pollination Primer

Flowers inspire people—from 17th-century tulipmania to modern gardeners. But flowers don't exist for us; they exist to lure pollinators facilitating sexual reproduction.

Flowers are plant reproductive organs. When insects seek nectar/pollen, pollen from the anther (male part) sticks to their bodies. At the next flower, pollen transfers to the stigma (female part), fertilizing ovules for seed production.

The Real Purpose of Flowers

Over 100 million years, flowers evolved extraordinary strategies: color, scent, petal design, bloom time. Lilies have ridged petals guiding bees; blanket flowers have concentric ring targets; zinnias and butterfly weeds have flat-topped clusters for butterflies; delphiniums have landing platforms for bees.

Consider monkshoods (Aconitum spp.) and bumblebees. Monkshoods depend entirely on bumblebees. Petal-like sepals form a hood concealing two long spurs with nectar at the end—only reachable by bumblebee tongues. When bumblebees enter, they must walk over male (pollen) and female (stigma) parts. Without bumblebees, monkshoods can't reproduce.

Look closely at your yard flowers—can you see specialized pollinator attractions?

More info: Attracting Butterflies, Hummingbirds and Other Pollinators.

Meet the Pollinators

Honeybee

Thousands of species help pollinate: bees, butterflies, ants, bats, birds. Here are key U.S. pollinators you'll likely see.

Bees are workhorse pollinators: 40,000+ species worldwide, 4,000 in U.S. They deliver pollen to more flowering plants than any group. Adapted for the task: hairy hind legs hold pollen; some have special pollen sacs. Visit dozens/hundreds of flowers daily. Attracted to bright yellow/blue flowers with sweet fragrance. Land on tube-shaped flowers and crawl inside.

While honeybees are best-known, most pollination is done by wild solitary bees like mason bees.

Honeybee (Apis mellifera): European species introduced in colonial times. U.S. beekeepers tend 3+ million colonies. Generalists visiting fruit trees to clover.

Bumblebee (Bombus spp.): Large spring queens emerge from hibernation, feed, seek underground nests. Summer workers forage. Capable of buzz pollination—vibrating to stimulate anthers to release more pollen.

Mason bee

Mason Bee (Osmia spp.): Found throughout most U.S. Solitary, nest in hollow stems, woodpecker holes, insect holes. Common near woodlands, towns, suburbs. Excellent pollinators.

Squash Bee (Peponapis spp.): Specialists depending entirely on squash/pumpkin. Solitary, nest in ~10-inch-deep ground burrows.

Butterflies: ~700 U.S. species. Love bright yellow/pink flowers and flat-topped clusters. Long proboscis probes deep for nectar.

Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus): Larvae feed almost exclusively on milkweed; adults visit many flowers. Migrate annually between U.S. and Mexico—vital habitat pockets along route.

Zebra Heliconian Butterfly (Heliconius charitonius): Unlike most, feeds on nectar AND collects/consumes pollen. Digests pollen proteins, allowing 6-month adult lifespan.

Flies pollinate huge flower variety. Many syrphid flies visit tiny flowers.

Syrphid fly

Syrphid Fly (Syrphidae spp.): Evolved to look/behave like bees to avoid birds. Present all season, especially spring/fall.

Moths: Less showy than butterflies, but 10,000 U.S. species. Active primarily at night. Attracted to white/light flowers with strong sweet scent: nicotiana, datura, moonflowers, evening primroses.

Hawkmoth (Manduca spp.): Hummingbird-sized, pollinate jimsonweed (largest U.S. native flower) at night.

Hummingbirds: Most spectacular common pollinators. Attracted to nectar-rich red tubular flowers.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris): Weighs 1/10 ounce, consumes 50% body weight in nectar daily.

Bats: World's most important pollinating mammals. Most U.S. bats eat insects, but southwestern species feed on fruit/nectar, vital for desert plants, especially cacti.

Lesser Long-Nosed Bat (Leptonycteris curasoae): Primary pollinator of saguaro cactus. Migrating bats pollinate while feasting on nectar, later eat fruit and disperse seeds. ~3 inches long, tongue as long as body.