Magnolias Are So Old That They're Pollinated by Beetles, Not Bees

https://mymodernmet.com/magnolia-ancient-flowers-beetles/

Comments

cachiusJul 27, 2026, 11:32 AM
Living fossils, like Ginkos

And Equisetum/Horsetail/Schachtelhalm

chabesJul 22, 2026, 5:07 PM
A lot of plants aren’t pollinated by bees. There’s pollinator wasps, flies, moths, butterflies… even birds and bats are pollinators
williamdcltJul 27, 2026, 9:40 AM
mosquitoes too, though it pains me to give them credit for anything
nkriscJul 27, 2026, 10:44 AM
True, all mosquitoes drink nectar, and only females of some species drink blood.
ameliusJul 27, 2026, 10:57 AM
Glad at least someone is taking advantage of these leeches with wings.
palataJul 27, 2026, 9:33 AM
Ants as well
Foobar8568Jul 27, 2026, 9:38 AM
Yeah I was about to say ants with passion fruit flowers.
TacticalMaliceJul 27, 2026, 10:37 AM
The earliest angiosperms appeared in the Cretaceous. This is after the appearance of Hymenoptera (Jurassic) and Diptera (Triassic). While a nice story, this needs additional substantiation. An alternative explanation is likelier imo.
palataJul 27, 2026, 9:32 AM
Pretty sure I see many bees on Magnolias.
DiogenesianJul 27, 2026, 9:58 AM
Right, the whole point of bees as insect pollinators (reflecting that they are recent evolutionary line) is that they are by a healthy margin the most intelligent arthropod. They will inspect then successfully pollinate anything floral over a wide geographic range. Most insect pollinators are instinctually tied to certain species/families.
datakanJul 27, 2026, 10:39 AM
Jumping spiders are smarter
WhyIsItAlwaysHNJul 27, 2026, 10:52 AM
Spiders are not insects though https://www.burkemuseum.org/collections-and-research/biology...
cubefoxJul 27, 2026, 11:04 AM
But they are arthropods.
actionfromafarJul 27, 2026, 10:13 AM
Thanks, I never thought about bees like that. They certainly can use many types of flowers, as evidenced by various sorts of honey. Nitpick: some spiders are pretty darn intelligent and even seem to dream when they sleep, apparently.
yubblegumJul 27, 2026, 10:20 AM
Now I am musing about spider nightmares.
oneeyedpigeonJul 27, 2026, 10:38 AM
Thousands of tiny humans crawling all over you...
amarantJul 27, 2026, 10:57 AM
Or perhaps all of your thousands of children being in peril, having found themselves on a murderous human, with no obvious path to escape as the gigantic scary human swaths hundreds at a time?
ta8903Jul 27, 2026, 11:11 AM
There's a reason the average spider sleepwalks into 8 human mouths a year.
globular-toastJul 27, 2026, 9:55 AM
My magnolia is the only thing that seems to attract honeybees, which I rarely see otherwise. The article doesn't seem to justify the "not bees" part, though. I'd imagine bees can pollinate them too.
tmoertelJul 27, 2026, 11:29 AM
Mountain mints are also pollinated by beetles—and a bazillion other critters. They are extraordinary pollinator magnets. Beetles, bees, flies, wasps, mosquitos (!), moths, butterflies, ...

A recent study of just a few mountain mint species (https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2024.2411072) found that they attracted a crazy variety of pollinators. Here is a list I had Gemini distill from the paper's supplemental materials:

* Aedes spp. — Mosquito species * Agapostemon virescens — Bidentate Striped Sweat Bee * Altica spp. — Flea Beetle species * Ammophila procera — Thread-waisted Wasp * Anthidium spp. — Woolcarder Bee species * Apis mellifera — Western Honey Bee * Archytas metallica — Tachinid Fly species * Atalopedes campestris — Sachem Skipper * Atteva aurea — Ailanthus Webworm Moth * Augochlora pura — Pure Green Augochlora Bee * Augochlorella aurata — Golden Sweat Bee * Augochloropsis metallica — Metallic Green Sweat Bee * Belvosia spp. — Tachinid Fly species * Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus — Four-banded Sand Wasp * Bombus griseocollis — Brown-belted Bumble Bee * Bombus impatiens — Common Eastern Bumble Bee * Bombus spp. — Bumble Bee species * Ceratina mikmaqi — Mikmaq Small Carpenter Bee * Ceratina spp. — Small Carpenter Bee species * Cerceris fumipennis — Smoky-winged Beetle Bandit Wasp * Chauliognathus marginatus — Margined Leatherwing Beetle * Chauliognathus pensylvanicus — Goldenrod Soldier Beetle * Chrysomya megacephala — Oriental Latrine Fly * Coelioxys octodentatus — Eight-dentate Cuckoo Leafcutter Bee * Dielis plumipes — Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp * Dilophus spp. — March Fly species * Dolichopodidae — Long-legged Fly family * Epargyreus clarus — Silver-spotted Skipper * Eremnophila aureonotata — Thread-waisted Wasp * Eristalis spp. — Drone Fly / Hoverfly species * Erynnis horatius — Horace's Duskywing * Eumenes fraternus — Potter Wasp * Euodynerus hidalgo (and subsp. hidalgo) — Mason Wasp species * Euphyes vestris — Dun Skipper * Eurytides marcellus — Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly * Fuscopolistes spp. — Paper Wasp species * Geocoris spp. — Big-eyed Bug species * Gymnosoma spp. — Parasitic Fly species * Halictus confusus — Confused Furrow Bee * Halictus poeyi — Poey's Furrow Bee * Halictus spp. — Furrow Bee species * Isodontia auripes — Golden-footed Grass-carrier Wasp * Isodontia mexicana — Grass-carrying Wasp * Isodontia philadelphica — Grass-carrying Wasp species * Lasioglossum imitatum — Mimic Sweat Bee * Lasioglossum spp. — Sweat Bee species * Lepyronia quadrangularis — Diamond-backed Spittlebug * Leucospis affinis — Leucospid Chalcid Wasp * Lonchaeidae — Lance Fly family * Lucilia cuprina — Australian Sheep Blowfly * Lucilia sericata — Common Green Bottle Fly * Lygaeus kalmii — Small Milkweed Bug * Lygaeus spp. — Milkweed Bug species * Lygus lineolaris — Tarnished Plant Bug * Macrosiagon cruenta — Wedge-shaped Beetle species * Macrosiagon dimidiata — Wedge-shaped Beetle species * Macrosiagon limbata — Wedge-shaped Beetle species * Mallophora fautrix — Robber Fly species * Megachile exilis parexilis — Leafcutter Bee subspecies * Megachile mendica — Flat-tailed Leafcutter Bee * Megachile sculpturalis — Sculptured Resin Bee * Megachile spp. — Leafcutter Bee species * Melissodes spp. — Long-horned Bee species * Melittia cucurbitae — Squash Vine Borer Moth * Meromacrus acutus — Flower Fly species * Monobia quadridens — Four-toothed Mason Wasp * Mordella spp. — Tumbling Flower Beetle species * Myzinum quinquecinctum — Five-banded Thynnid Wasp * Odontocorynus spp. — Weevil species * Oncopeltus fasciatus — Large Milkweed Bug * Onthophagus spp. — Dung Beetle species * Orthonevra nitida — Hoverfly species * Palpada furcata — Flower Fly species * Parancistrocerus spp. — Mason Wasp species * Parentia spp. — Long-legged Fly species * Philanthus gibbosus — Beewolf Wasp * Phyciodes tharos — Pearl Crescent Butterfly * Physocephala marginata — Thick-headed Fly species * Physocephala spp. — Thick-headed Fly species * Pieris rapae — Cabbage White Butterfly * Polistes spp. — Paper Wasp species * Prionyx parkeri — Thread-waisted Digger Wasp * Pseudodynerus quadrisectus — Mason Wasp species * Satyrium calanus — Banded Hairstreak Butterfly * Scolia bicincta — Two-banded Scoliid Wasp * Scolia dubia — Blue-winged Wasp * Scolia nobilitata — Scoliid Wasp species * Sehirus cinctus (and subsp. cinctus) — White-margined Burrower Bug * Sphaerophoria philanthus — Hoverfly species * Sphex habenus — Digger Wasp species * Sphex ichneumoneus — Great Golden Digger Wasp * Sphex nudus — Katydid-hunting Digger Wasp * Sphex pensylvanicus — Great Black Wasp * Spilomyia longicornis — Hoverfly species * Spragueia leo — Common Spragueia Moth * Strigoderma spp. — Scarab Beetle species * Strymon melinus — Gray Hairstreak Butterfly * Syritta pipiens — Thick-legged Hoverfly * Tachinidae — Tachinid Fly family * Tachytes guatemalensis — Square-headed Wasp species * Tetraopes tetrophthalmus — Red Milkweed Beetle * Toxomerus spp. — Flower Fly species * Trichiotinus rufobrunneus — Rose Chafer Beetle species * Trichopoda pennipes — Feather-legged Fly * Triepeolus lunatus — Cuckoo Bee species * Trigonopeltastes delta — Delta Flower Scarab Beetle * Typocerus velutinus — Banded Longhorn Beetle * Vanessa virginiensis — American Lady Butterfly * Villa spp. — Bee Fly species * Xylocopa micans — Southern Carpenter Bee * Xylocopa virginica — Eastern Carpenter Bee