♪
Now, we give a lot of credit
for pollination to bees--
and they
totally deserve it--
but sometimes I feel
like we totally overlook
the other pollinators
that really help.
So for this episode
of The Bug Chicks,
we are gonna go to backyard
gardens and rainforests,
and we're even gonna take you
on an overnight excursion
to discover the crazy and
bizarre world of pollination.
Now, we're throwing around
the word "pollination" a lot,
Mm-hmm.
but let's talk for a second
about what most people
think pollination is.
I'll do that.
[clears throat]
[imitating teenager]
Um, pollination is like
when there's lots
of flowers, right,
and the flowers have this, like,
dusty stuff on it called pollen,
and then, like, bugs--
eww--
come around, and the bugs,
like, eat the pollen
and, like,
roll around in it,
and then
that's pollination.
Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa.
I need an illustration,
and I need it
Bug Chicks style.
Yeah.
Parts of a flower:
You got the pretty petals,
the sticky stigma,
pipe-like pistils,
skinny stamen,
and the awesome anthers.
That's where the pollen is.
Now we need a pollinator.
Ooh, can we have a fly?
Oh, that's a housefly.
Ooh, a bee fly.
Perfect.
Flowers smell yummy
to attract insects.
Bee fly lands on the petals
to drink nectar.
He brushes up
against an anther,
and pollen gets
all over his fuzzy body.
He flies away,
but he's still hungry,
so it's off
to another flower.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
The pollen on his body
gets stuck
to the stigma
of the new flower.
The pollen grains
travel down the pistil
to the ovary where
a seed will be formed.
Seeds are baby plants.
That seed will grow
into a new flower.
Aww.
♪ Rock-a-bye, baby, on-- ♪
And that's pollination.
Hey, guys,
Bug Chick Jess here
just waiting
on Bug Chick Kristie.
I'm not sure where she is,
but I'm sure
she'll be here soon.
She's right here.
Hi.
Oh, wow,
you look familiar.
I know you like me,
but copying
my hair and my clothes
is a little extreme.
Don't flatter
yourself, Jess.
I'm trying to make
a scientific point here.
Oh, yeah?
What point is that?
Oh, yeah?
What point is that?
Whoa!
Whoa!
All right, I'm with ya.
You with me?
See, mimicry is everywhere
in the insect world,
especially in the world
of pollination.
Did you know that there are
lots of insects who mimic bees?
And did you know
that lots of them are flies?
It's a way for the flies
to protect themselves,
because if they look
like a bee,
they might sting
like a bee.
There are lots of flies
that mimic bees.
Hover flies, bee flies,
and thick-headed flies
are just a few.
So how do we
tell them apart?
Time to think
like a bugdork.
Flies have
only one pair of wings,
but honeybees
have two.
Bees usually have
a stinger,
and flies don't.
Also, look at the head,
the eyes, and the antennae.
Now, I'm gonna
go change outfits
because, frankly,
you mimicking me all the time
is really starting
to freak me out.
We couldn't bring you all
to the rainforest,
so we brought
the rainforest to you.
This is
the Cockrell Butterfly Center
at the Houston Museum
of Natural Science.
And it is a generalist
pollinator's paradise.
We'll show you what we mean.
[animals
hooting, tweeting]
See that coiled mouthpart?
It's called a proboscis.
It works
like a long, bendy straw
to suck up liquids.
Butterflies and moths make
great generalist pollinators
because that coil-y proboscis
that we talked about
can basically fit
in any type of flower--
tube-shaped, open, closed,
weird, funky, you name it.
Any type of flower,
they can basically pollinate it.
And now it's time
to talk about
a very specialized form
of pollination.
This is the corpse flower,
and when it blooms,
it smells like rotting meat.
Ugh.
Ugh.
So it attracts insects
that love
the taste and the smell
of rotting meat.
Like flesh flies, blow flies,
and carrion beetles.
And it only blooms
once in a blue moon.
It's a very special flower.
It's a very sneaky flower.
It's a very smelly flower.
There are hundreds of
these special dead meat plants
all over the world,
and these insects
can't resist them.
Kristie, I can't believe
you dragged me
out of bed at 2:00 a.m.
This had better be good.
It's gonna be good,
trust me.
We got a tip from the caretaker
of this garden
that this is the place to be
for nighttime pollination.
And this particular plant
only releases its scent
after the sun goes down.
Basically, they cut out
all the competition
from the daytime flowers,
but that also means
that they have
a very specific type
of pollinator--
a sphinx moth
or a hummingbird moth.
They've got
a really long body
and a really long proboscis.
Here they are. Look.
Oh, they're big,
and they're beautiful.
That was awesome.
Yeah, it was.
There are
so many things to learn
about pollinating insects,
we could talk all day.
To see how much you've learned
during this episode,
it's time for
The Bug Chicks Remix Challenge.
We're gonna play
The Five-Minute Game.
Go outside and sit
in a beautiful garden
for five minutes.
Sit quietly and watch
how many pollinators you see
that are not bees.
Count them.
It's fun.
Oh! There's one.
♪
