mouthparts. Some beetle pollinators damage

the plant, eating the pollen and stamens, or

developing as larvae inside the ovules, so the

pollination service has a cost.

Pollinators are worth billions of dollars

annually to agriculture. Some important

crops have failed to thrive in parts of

the world because of a lack of native

pollinators (hand pollination is far too

labor-intensive). A famous example is the

introduction of West African oil palm to

tropical Asia, which has only been possible

due to the introduction of pollinating

weevils (genus Elaeidobius). This is a bittersweet

success story, because oil palm has been so

destructive to Asia’s rainforests.

below | Eupoecila australasiae

(Scarabaeidae) A fiddler beetle pollinating

an Australian eucalyptus. Although these

beetles eat part of the flowers, the benefits

outweigh the damage.

above | Anchylorhynchus (Curculionidae)

South American palm-pollinating

weevils—similar African weevils are

used to pollinate commercial oil palm.