A Journey

Around

the world

Once uppon a time our team decided to discover the world.

Asia

Asia

Pollinators play a crucial role in maintaining plant biodiversity and boosting crop production. In India, the late Salim Ali identified the role of birds as possible pollinators in 1932. However, there has been little research on avian pollinators since then. The populations of pollinator bird species are believed to have decreased in recent years, but supporting statistical data is not available. Despite the importance of pollinators to agriculture, pollinator management is virtually unheard of in India. This lack of management is in stark contrast to other developing countries such as China, Argentina, and Mexico, which have more bee colonies and increased profits from apiary products. The decline in pollinator populations in India is partly due to the rampant use of pesticides, which has led to the disappearance of birds from cotton fields in Andhra Pradesh. Invertebrates such as honey bees are also facing threats, with an estimated 100-150 major crops grown in the US depending on them for pollination. Unfortunately, supporting data on the status of pollinator populations in India is scarce, making it challenging to implement effective management strategies.

Asia

Migration Patterns of Pollinators in Asia

Colonies of pollinators typically migrate to take advantage of changing bloom at different altitudes of flowering plants that provide their diet of nectar and pollen. In northern Thailand, for example, colonies move to higher elevations to increase colony population and reproduce by swarming with the onset of the dry season, then return to lower elevations to build another nest, grow, and swarm again in the wet season. However, details of seasonal movement vary across Asia.

Asia

(Deniz comes back from the school. He is tired so he goes to bed and falls asleep. He opens his eyes in a white box.)

Deniz: Huh, where am I?

???: Hello Deniz ! What’s up?

Deniz: Who are you?

???: You will know it later.

D: Then , where am I?

?: İn a white box.

D: Why am I here?

?: Can you stop asking questions?

D: Fine !

(They say nothing for about 5 min.)

D: What can I do here ? I am so bored.

?: Do you have any homework? Let me help you with it.

D: Yes, I do.

?: What is it about?

D: It is about pollinators.

?: Allright! First, what do you think about pollinators?

D: I think they are amazing! If they weren’t in this world,the life would be even harder!

Asia

?: Nice ! Now, which continent has the most pollinators?

D: Easy! Asia!

?: Good ! How much water does a bee drink a day?

D: about 200 ml

?: Awesome! Name 2 animals in Asia that are pollinators?

D: Let me think . Umm … Ah ! Bees and butterflies of course !

?: Give me some information about pollinators, please.

D: Sure! Pollinators are just awesome ! First, they store pollen from flowers, then they turn the stored pollen into honey. The most known pollinators are bees. Is it enough?

? : yeap, that is enough. I don't know if you noticed but you have just finished your homework !

D: What do you mean?

?: Actually, you have answered all your homework questions!

D: Really ! It is great! But what should I do to save pollinators?

?: You should plant flowers, this will help.

D: I must go and write my homework and plant flowers !

? : Yes ! Don't worry ! You will wake up right now.

D: What?

(Deniz wakes up and gets out of the bed)

D: So, was it all a dream? Whatever. I need to write my homework. I also should plant some flowers in my garden.

( Deniz writes his homework and plants some flowers in his garden. And the next day, he sees a bee on one of his flowers. Also the “???” was the outside voice inside his brain.)

Asia

Europe

Europe

Europe

Hi, my name is Rose Chefor and this is my friend Ant Anthony.

We are in Europe now. Let’s travel with us.

Currently there are 3339 known pollinator species.

Europe

• Do you know where the most bee species are in Europe?
  
• Let me think, the most species are in Greece (1187) and Spain (1171).
  
• WOW.
  
• In Iceland there are only 7 species, 100 in Ireland and Norway 197.
  
• Do you know any species which cover the whole of Europe?
  
• Yes! These are the hoverflies.
  
• Ugh. They look so ugly.
  
• I see, but you know they are very important.
  
• I like butterflies, they are so beautiful.
  
• There are about 500 species in Europe.
  
• I learnt at school that they are everywhere from the North to the South of Europe.
  
• You are right. Hotspots are Eastern Pyrenees, Western Alps and Southern Balkans. But there are also bird pollinators.
  
• Really? And what about mammals?
  
• They are too. Lizards can be too.
  
• Amazing.
  
• I like house sparrows, starlings and skylarks.
  
• Why are they so important?
  
• Without pollinators, the human race and all of earth's terrestrial ecosystem would not survive.
  

Europe

America

America

Title: Pollinator Pals

[Three children, Mia, Ben, and Emma, are sitting in a sunny backyard, surrounded by blooming flowers and buzzing bees.]

Mia: Hey, did you know that bees aren't the only pollinators in America?

Ben: Really? I thought bees were the main ones!

Emma: Nope! There are also butterflies, hummingbirds, and even bats!

Ben: Bats? But aren't they creepy?

Emma: Not at all! They're actually super important for pollinating plants like agave and cacti.

Mia: And butterflies are so beautiful! They help pollinate flowers all over the place.

America

Ben: What about hummingbirds?

Emma: Oh, they're like tiny superheroes! They zoom around and drink nectar from flowers, spreading pollen as they go.

Mia: So, without these pollinators, we wouldn't have fruits and veggies, right?

Ben: That's crazy! We need to protect them.

Emma: Definitely! We can plant more flowers and create habitats for them in our gardens.

Mia: And we can tell our friends and family about how important pollinators are!

Ben: Yeah! We'll be the Pollinator Pals, saving the day one flower at a time!

[The three children fist bump and get to work planting flowers in the garden, smiling as they imagine a world full of buzzing bees, fluttering butterflies, and zooming hummingbirds.]

Africa

Africa

Hi,my name is Alfred and this is my friend Jenna, we are in Africa now.

-Let's travel with us. The continent of Africa is full of wealth of unique pollinator syndromes and a healthy level of pollinator diversity represented not just by insects and birds, but also by reptiles and mammals as well.

-Do you like pollinators?

-Yes!

-Do you know where the most bee species are in Africa ?

- Let’s see for example Kenya These tiny insects – the bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles.

Africa

- How about a special bee?- Like other species of bees, Africanized bees pollinate plants. Compared to their European counterparts, they begin pollinating at much younger ages and harvest more pollen to feed their greater numbers of larvae.

- I heard that in South Africa there are lots of honey bees and they pollinate lots of important crops.

- Ah, yes. Like oilseeds- sunflowers and canola or apples, pears, plums, apricots, or rooibos seeds, fynbos cut flowers, squashes like pumpkin, marrows or butternut, melon, watermelon.

- I hear about berries, citrus, subtropical fruit like litchi, avocado, papaya and lucerne seed.

- And don’t forget vegetables such as onion, carrot, cauliflower and broccoli.

- I like cabbage too.

Africa

-Who are the biggest pollinators?

- The black-and-white ruffed lemur is the largest pollinator in the world! How they pick up pollen: they are the primary pollinator of the traveler's tree and it isn't easy getting to its flowers. These lemurs have to open up the flower and reach in with their long snout and tongue.

- Amazing. Where does it live? In Madagascar?

- Yes, you are right.

- In Africa we had a great adventure and we learnt a lot about it.

Africa

Australia- Oceania

Australia- Oceania

Australian Museum

Australia- Oceania

• Hey Paul! Which insects are pollinators?
  
• Species of bees, beetles, flies, wasps, thrips, butterflies and moths are all successful pollinators.
• These insects make good pollinators because they share two important features, am I right?
• They fly, and so are capable of visiting many plants in a relatively short amount of time
• They are motivated to interact with pollen, as they either eat it or food items located nearby (e.g. nectar).

How do plants attract pollinators?

Simply supplying nectar does not guarantee that the insect will come to a plant or transfer pollen to the pollen receivers of the same species. For this reason, plants use visual and scent cues to attract and direct insects.

Scent is an effective way of luring pollinators. For example, strong smelling flowers tend to be visited by beetles and flies, while bees and butterflies visit sweet smelling flowers. It is also an effective means of directing pollinators to the pollen receivers.

Cycads from inland Australia use scent to lure thrips for pollination. Thrips are very small insects that cannot carry many pollen grains, so the plant needs to attract large numbers of them. A male cycad cone laden with pollen will emit a strong and pungent scent that will attract as many as 50 000 thrips. Female cones also emit a scent once they are ready to receive pollen, which then attracts the pollen-laden thrips.

Scent can also be used to trick insects into becoming pollinators. The Corpse Flower of Indonesia uses a pungent odour of rotting flesh to attract carrion insects. The Australian Broad-lipped Orchid imitates the scent and also the appearance of a female Thynine Wasps. This fools male wasps into attempting to mate with the flower which is pollinated in the process.