/data/photo/2021/03/12/604b37abaeaef.jpg "Insects Help Pollination Since 47 Million Years Ago, This Is The Evidence Page all")
KOMPAS.com- Insect proved to have done its job to do pollination since 47 million years ago.
This was revealed after scientists discovered fossil flies 47 million years old with a bloated stomach full of pollen.
This discovery is the first evidence that several species of ancient flies with tangled veins ate different subtropical plant microspores.
“The rich pollen content in the fly’s stomach indicates that the flies fed and transported pollen 47 million years ago. This shows. insect play an important role in the spread of pollen from some plant taxa, “said Fridgeir Grímsson, a botanist at the University of Vienna, Austria.
When thinking of pollination, most people immediately think of a bird, bee or butterfly. Very few consider flies as pollinating insects which turned out to be equally important in this process.
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One example is this entangled vein fly which is largely not considered a potential pollen carrier.
However, thanks to the finding of insect fossils in an abandoned mine near Frankfurt, Germanthe evidence that flies are quite fond of pollen is even more evident.
Fossil records that reveal direct consumption of pollen are extremely rare.
However, this fossil fly with tangled veins shows that the fly’s final diet, in the form of pollen, is highly preserved.
Under the microscope, the intestines and stomachs of these tens of millions of years old insects show traces of pollen from at least four plant families, including trees. willow and ivy which grows around the edge of the forest of an ancient lake.
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Researchers can also see long hairs, known as setae, on the chest or stomach of flies.
Although no pollen has been found on these feathers, the facts show that the feathers can also carry pollen when flies move from flower to flower.
To pick up pollen, flies will use their short proboscis and land on the tops of flowers.
While the flowers that are eaten are usually stacked tightly and close together, allowing insects to easily eat one by one.
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“It appears that the flies avoid long-distance flights between food sources. Flies also look for pollen from related plants, “explains Grímsson.
The new findings support the old hypothesis that in some modern tropical environments, flies visiting flowers may be as important as some pollinating bees – perhaps even more.
Researchers also say that finding pollen in the stomachs of ancient flies also suggests that this could have been an important role for these insects since the Jurassic period.
“Fossil Tangled flies clearly feed on angiosperm pollen and are the first direct evidence of pollination, “write the investigators in the study.
Study of ancient insects who has helped this pollination has been published on Current Biology.
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