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Beetles pollinated orchids millions of year ago

When most people hear the word "pollinator," they think of bees and butterflies. However, certain beetles are known to pollinate plants as well, and new fossil evidence indicates that they were doing so 20 million years ago.

A new study in American Entomologist by George Poinar, Jr. (Oregon State University) describes beetles found in fossilized amber with orchid pollen in their mouthparts.

"My paper points out that beetles may play a more important role in pollinating orchids than originally thought, and that they have been doing so for some 20 million years," Poinar said.

Some present-day beetles use orchids for nectar, but no fossil evidence has ever been found showing beetles in the evolutionary past pollinating orchids -- until now.

Read more at ScienceDaily
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