The Natural History of Pollination

The importance of insects in pollinating flowers is today so well known, it is easy to forget that it was discovered less than 200 years ago. Before that, it was believed that the concern of bees with flowers was simply a matter of collecting honey. The methods by which pollen reaches the female flower, enabling fertilization and seed production to take place, include some of the most varied and fascinating mechanisms in the natural world. This guide describes all the ways pollination is effected - by wind, w even bats - but principally in many wonderful ways by a diversity of insect species.