Beetles pollinate plants millions of year ago: study

Like bees and butterflies, certain beetles pollinate plants as well, and new fossil evidence published Monday suggested that they were doing so 20 million years ago.

A new study in the U.S. journal American Entomologist, conducted by George Poinar Jr. of the Oregon State University, described two 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 in a statement.

The first specimen was a hidden-snout beetle found in amber from the Dominican Republic. This Dominican specimen, estimated to be 20 to 45 million years old, had pollinaria from an orchid described as Cylindrocites browni attached to its thorax.

The other specimen was a toe-winged beetle that was found in amber from Mexico. This toe-winged beetle, estimated to be 22 to 26 million years old, had pollinaria from an orchid described as Annulites mexicana attached to its mouthparts.

While other beetles are known to pollinate plants, no current-day hidden-snout or toe-winged beetles have been seen with pollinaria.

Poinar suggested this may be due to the beetles' secretive behavior, which makes it difficult to collect data about them.

"While no present-day cryptorhynchid weevils or ptilodactyline beetles are known to carry pollinaria, past and future collections of these and other beetles should be examined to search for attached pollinaria," Poinar said.

"Orchids may have evolved beneficial associations with a much wider range of beetles and other insects than we thought possible."

Beetles comprise the largest set of pollinating animals, due to sheer numbers. They are responsible for pollinating 88 percent of the 240,000 flowering plants globally, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Endit