 Open the document from the PSU Center for Pollinator Research on this fascinating bee. 
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 SBG Knowledge Series--November
What would Thanksgiving dinner be without cranberry sauce? Without pollinators, we’d soon find out! Because the reproductive organs in a cranberry flower mature at different times, the flowers can’t self-pollinate. That’s where bees come in—they are the main pollinators of cranberries and are critical to fruit production.  BAT FACT: Bats are the only mammal that can fly!
BATS ARE POLLINATORS! Bats pollinate over 700 plants, some of which we use for food and medicine. Wild varieties of many of our most valuable crops rely on bats for their survival. These include bananas, avocados, dates, figs, peaches, mangoes, and many others. Nectar-eating bats do this by pollinating flowers, just like bees. As they travel from flower to flower drinking nectar, they transfer pollen from one flower to another, which causes these plants to produce fruit (and seeds).  Small but Mighty:
Squash bee-- Peponapis pruinosa Enjoying your Halloween pumpkin? Thank a squash bee! These wee bees have been pollinating pumpkins in North America for thousands of years. All pumpkins are descended from a single species of squash-- Cucurbita pepo, native to the southwest. Squash bees have coevolved with this plant over thousands of years, and thus are highly attuned to its habits. |
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