#beetle-pollinated
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proptermalone.bsky.social
you know how certain flowers are fly- and carrion beetle-pollinated and therefore smell like rotting meat
chrislabarthe.bsky.social Chris Labarthe @chrislabarthe.bsky.social · Jun 6
Wait. Does this mean Katie Miller was a honeypot to entrap Stephen Miller from the start?
June 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM
americanbeetles.bsky.social
VANDALS AND THIEVES!!
snippet of text from Bernhardt (2000) on beetle-pollinated angiosperms
October 25, 2024 at 7:45 PM
jgryboski.bsky.social
A very pollinated goldenrod soldier beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) on a yarrow flower.

Bender Park, Oak Creek, WI

#insects #beetle #macromonday #macrophotography #naturephotography #wisconsin
July 20, 2026 at 2:13 PM
dunnjons.bsky.social
Returning to my countdown to the keenly anticipated @mariposanature.bsky.social #OrchidsOfRhodes tour, another velvet beauty from the Ophrys bee orchids, Ophrys blitopertha.

It's a novelty of its kind, pollinated not by bees or wasps, but by a small scarab beetle, Blitopertha lineolata.

#orchids
Ophrys blitopertha, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn
March 5, 2026 at 9:54 AM
americanbeetles.bsky.social
Just enjoying a chill brunch in the park with some beetle-pollinated flora
View from the boathouse cafe, with sweaty bike helmet Water lilies in the genus Nymphaea
July 7, 2024 at 2:20 PM
dunnjons.bsky.social
One of my favourite orchids on Rhodes is Ophrys blitopertha, a member of the Ophrys bee orchids that, subverting that convenient generalisation, has nothing to do with bees. Blitopertha is instead pollinated by a small scarab beetle, Blitopertha lineolata. #OrchidsOfRhodes
Ophrys blitopertha, Orchids of Rhodes © Jon Dunn
December 22, 2025 at 8:13 AM
bedupolker.bsky.social
Chaparral habitats in CA
A closeup of a small creek lined with grasses and a stump, occupied by several animals including a garter snake, toad, dragonfly, mall birds, damselfly, and a frog. A rocky outcropping occupied by several animals, including a California Condor, red tail hawk, rattlesnake, darkling beetle, fence lizard, and a ground squirrel. A dry, grassy clearing lined with small scrub-like trees. It is occupied by several animals, including a deer, scrub jay, woodpecker, kangaroo rat, and jackrabbit. In the foreground is a closeup of a cluster of white flowers pollinated by a bumblebee and blue butterfly.
September 14, 2025 at 7:12 PM
scottzona.bsky.social
Pollination in Magnolia is often by beetles, but other insects may contribute. Magnolia ovata is a night-blooming, thermogenic & beetle-pollinated species. The 1st night, the stigmas are receptive. Flowers close in the day & open the 2nd night in the staminate phase. #Magnoliaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a leafy shoot held by a hand. The shoot bears a single large magnolia flower that is only partially open. Photo by Scott Zona CCBYNC2.
September 23, 2025 at 11:00 AM
cathhodsman.bsky.social
Did u know? It's important to plant a variety of flower shapes because pollinators can't reach all pollen & nectar from all flowers.Beetle pollinators,like this female Thick-legged flower beetle has short mouth parts,so can only reach food from flat flowers with shallow nectaries. 🌿🌱🪲🐙🐝
A pic I took of a pretty yellow daisy being pollinated by a Thick-legged Flower beetle. The daisy has a flat flower, which means the beetle can reach its food because it only has short mouth parts.
February 22, 2024 at 6:51 AM
americanbeetles.bsky.social
And some of them are, yes, BEETLE-POLLINATED
September 15, 2024 at 2:06 PM
botsocamerica.bsky.social
Patterns of within- and among-plant variation in #nectar production in the beetle-pollinated Amianthium muscaetoxicum

New #AJB research by @sarahjmcpeek.bsky.social, Connor Erwin & Edmund Brodie III

doi.org/10.1002/ajb2...
#botany #plantscience #ecology #pollination #beetle
A pollen-covered Strangalepta abbreviata beetle interacts with an Amianthium muscaetoxicum inflorescence.
July 8, 2025 at 2:20 PM
americanbeetles.bsky.social
if you too want to read the whole story, it is here and it's really something!! www.cell.com/current-biol...
Sexual deception of a beetle pollinator through floral mimicry
Cohen et al. report that an African orchid is pollinated by male longhorn beetles, which ejaculate while attempting to copulate with the flowers. They identify a novel macrolide that mediates this sys...
www.cell.com
March 1, 2026 at 3:41 AM
hikatieallen.bsky.social
Did you know: magnolia trees are one of the oldest flowering plant lineages & evolved in the Cretaceous period 95 million years ago! They're pollinated by beetles because they evolved before bees existed. Their middle "carpal" is tough so beetle mandibles don't damage it. #nature #biology #magnolia
February 8, 2025 at 2:04 PM
anthophilia4est.bsky.social
White flowers 3 for #SixOnSaturday 🌱
1st column, Hibiscus syriacus from op seeds collected from 'Double White', Echinops spaerocephalus, Begonia hybrid, 'Dragon Wing White'.
Right Cosmos bipinnatus 'Double Dutch White, Iris ensata, 'Henry's White', Orlaya grandiflora
Top left is a pure white double Hibiscus syriacus grown from open pollinated seeds. Below that is a white, spiny flowered Echinops. Bottom left is white Dragon Wing Begonia; seeds were from Pinetree Garden seeds. Top right is white double Cosmos with gold disk. Below that is Japanese Iris 'Henry's White' with a Soldier Beetle, next, multiple lacy Orlaya flowers.
February 1, 2025 at 11:04 AM
titoalpastor.eurosky.social
"Spring arrives, and with it, the magnolias. Their pink and white blooms unfurl in many parts of the world, but if you look closely, you might see a beetle land on the flowers — not a bee."
🌱🪷🪲 #Magnolias #Beetles #Pollination #Biology #Nature #Science #IsItSpringYet

By @mareacaspica.bsky.social 👏🏼
Magnolias are so ancient they're pollinated by beetles — because bees didn't exist yet
Before bees, there were beetles
www.zmescience.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:43 PM
scottzona.bsky.social
Magnolia denudata (#Magnoliaceae) is another beetle-pollinated species. The pollinators are large #Coleoptera (#Scarabaeidae). The thermal image shows that the stamens & carpels heat up. AOX respiration generates the heat. Thermal image from bit.ly/3S58s0V
#Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
Composite plate. Photo of a single, large white flower by Juuyoh Tanaka CC BY 2.0 The lower panel of images, including thermal image, is from: Wang, R. et al. 2022. Heat production and volatile biosynthesis are linked via alternative respiration in Magnolia denudata during floral thermogenesis. Front. Plant Sci. 13:955665. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.955665
February 23, 2024 at 12:16 PM
americanbeetles.bsky.social
Pleased to report the Early Cretaceous Pollinator Garden was well-received, thank u Vanessa and @bugmom.bsky.social for tabling with me and drawing stinky fly- and beetle-pollinated flowers to pass the time
Three bug nerds at a display of plant and insect specimens Molly’s drawing of a titan arum Vanessa’s drawing of a Rafflesia (NO it’s not an early-diverging angiosperm, YES it’s a great example of being stinky to attract nonstandard pollinators) My drawing of an eastern skunk cabbage, perched above the herbarium specimen of a western skunk cabbage
July 27, 2024 at 12:32 PM
americanbeetles.bsky.social
the few, the proud, the scarab-pollinated
Scarab beetle snuggled adorably into a Caladium inflorescence
May 16, 2024 at 3:56 PM
sarahjmcpeek.bsky.social
Beetles are historically viewed as 'mess and soil' pollinators that often cause more harm than good. So why does this Appalachian beetle-pollinated flower make THIS MUCH nectar? We explore the natural history of Amianthium nectar and its interactions with beetle pollinators in new work in #AJB! 🧪
Flowers with large droplets of visible floral nectar
July 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
mtbotany.bsky.social
I'm aware of some other beetle pollinated flowers that are more recently evolved, but they are exceptions. Found an interesting paper on an orchid from S. Africa.

bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Floral specialization for beetle pollination and its implications for pollen dispersal in an African orchid
Premise Pollination by beetles is relatively rare in orchids, and this has been attributed to the clumsy behavior of beetles being unsuitable for the precise pollen transfer mechanisms that characte...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 31, 2026 at 3:04 PM
george-1788pow.bsky.social
Before the rise of angiosperms, evergreen gymnosperms (cycads) may have been the first insect-pollinated plants: an ancient beetle preserved in Burmese amber (99 million years) with grains of cycad pollen reveals adaptations (including mandibular patches) for the transport of cycad pollen...
January 31, 2025 at 6:33 PM
drawdrawdraw.bsky.social
#Januarty2026
14. Flower
It's super cold but the magnolias are showing signs of flowering - a plant so ancient it's pollinated by beetles - they evolved before bees!
A class I taught last winter @artistinresidence.co
#artclass #arttutor #onlineart #sciart #botanical #magnolia #insect #biro #pen
A flat lay arrangement of magnolia flowers and beetle drawings. Flowers drawn from life - specimens shown; shiny, green beetles from photographs. Materials used are laid out too: acrylic pens - pink, pale green, white; biro/bic pens - dark and light green, black and pink - they help add the metallic sheen to the beetles' carapace; and dip pen plus a bottle of black ink. Drawings are done on tracing paper and deli paper - so that the flowers and beetles can be layered together in different configurations.
January 14, 2026 at 1:05 PM
lewdcanelly.bsky.social
BEETLE-POLLINATED wheat. holds moisture better. also, die
October 26, 2024 at 10:58 AM
titoalpastor.eurosky.social
"Spring arrives, and with it, the magnolias. Their enormous pink and white blooms unfurl in many parts of the world, but if you look closely at them, you might see a beetle land on the flowers — not a bee."
🌱🪷🪲 #Magnolias #Beetles #Pollination #Biology #Nature #Science #Environment
Magnolias are so ancient they're pollinated by beetles — because bees didn't exist yet
Before bees, there were beetles
www.zmescience.com
January 28, 2026 at 6:10 PM
scottzona.bsky.social
#Annonaceae are experts at #flagelliflory. Here’s the evocatively named Duguetia cadaverica showing off a flagelliform inflorescence that grows along & through the leaf litter. The #beetle-pollinated flowers smell of death. 📷: Hervé Galliffet CC BY-NC 4 via iNaturalist. #Botany #PlantScience 🌾
Photo of the base of a woody plant with whip-like horizontal branches growing across the leaf litter. Several large red flowers are visible.
October 10, 2023 at 11:17 AM