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A pollinator is the biotic agent (vector) that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or 'syngamy' of the female gametes in the ovule of the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grain. A pollinator is different from a pollenizer, which is a plant that is a source of pollen for the pollination process. ''Anthecology'' is the scientific study of pollination. Insect pollinators include bees, (honey bees, solitary species, bumblebees); pollen wasps (Masarinae); ants; a variety of flies including bee flies and hoverflies; lepidopterans, both butterflies and moths; and flower beetles. Vertebrates, mainly bats and birds, but also some non-bat mammals (monkeys, lemurs, possums, rodents) and some reptiles (lizards and snakes) pollinate certain plants. Among the pollinating birds are hummingbirds, honeyeaters and sunbirds with long beaks; they pollinate a number of deep-throated flowers. Cycads, which are not flowering plants, are also pollinated by insects. ==Background== Plants fall into pollination syndromes that reflect the type of pollinator being attracted. These are characteristics such as: overall flower size, the depth and width of the corolla, the color (including patterns called nectar guides that are visible only in ultraviolet light), the scent, amount of nectar, composition of nectar, etc.〔Fægri, K. and L. van der Pijl. 1979. The principles of pollination ecology. Oxford: Pergamon.〕 For example, birds visit red flowers with long, narrow tubes and lots of nectar, but are not as strongly attracted to wide flowers with little nectar and copious pollen, which are more attractive to beetles. When these characteristics are experimentally modified (altering colour, size, orientation), pollinator visitation may decline.〔Fulton M, Hodges SA. 1999. Floral isolation between ''Aquilegia formosa'' and ''A. pubescens''. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 266: 2247–2252.〕〔Hodges SA, Whittall JB, Fulton M, Yang JY. 2002. Genetics of floral traits influencing reproductive isolation between ''Aquilegia formosa'' and ''A. pubescens''. American Naturalist 159: S51–S60.〕 It has recently been discovered that cycads, which are not flowering plants, are also pollinated by insects. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「pollinator」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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