Difference Between Insect Pollinated And Wind Pollinated Flowers

Difference Between Insect Pollinated And Wind Pollinated Flowers: Insect-pollinated flowers and Wind-Pollinated Flowers have different characteristic features to favour pollination by their respective pollinating agents. Pollination refers to the process of transfer of pollen grain from anther to stigma. All those methods or agencies that help in pollination are known as pollinating agents. The major difference between insect and wind-pollinated flowers is that pollinating agent in Wind-Pollinated Flowers is wind whereas pollinating agents in Insect-pollinated flowers are different types of insects. This difference in pollinating agents results in differences in the features of flowers to favour pollination.

Difference Between Insect-Pollinated And Wind Pollinated Flowers

Features	Wind-Pollinated Flowers	Insect-Pollinated Flowers
Flower Color	Colorless	Colourful
Presence of Nectar	Nectarless	Contains Edible Nectar
Odour	Odourless	Often Have Pleasant Odour
Anther Position	Exerted	Hidden and deep inside the flower
Filament	Long and slender	Strong and short
Pollen	Light-weight, non-sticky, abundant	Sticky, less in number
Stigma	Exerted and feathery	Small
Ovary	Mono-ovular	Triovular
Pollinating Agents	Wind	Various insects (honey bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, wasps, ants, flies)

Wind pollination

Wind pollination is also known as Anemophily. In wind-pollinated flowers, the pollinating agent is wind. Flowers pollinated by wind have some specific features as follows.

1. Morphological features of the flower: Flowers are colourless, nectarless and odourless. They are small-sized and are present in clusters.
2. Anther: Anther is exerted which allows easy dispersal of pollens.
3. Filament: Filament is long and slender.
4. Pollen: Pollens are lightweight, non-sticky and more in number. Since pollination is a by-chance event, a large number of pollens get wasted during pollination. Also, abiotic (wind) pollination is less specific compared to biotic (insect) pollination.
5. Stigma: Stigma is exerted and feathery to capture pollens.
6. Ovary: The ovary is mono-ovular. Thus, only one pollen is required which increases the chances of Fertilisation.

Insect pollination

Insect pollination is also known as Entmophily. In insect-pollinated flowers, the pollinating agents are different types of insects including honey bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, wasps, ants, and flies. Flowers pollinated by insects have some specific features as follows

1. Morphological features of the flower: Flowers are colourful, contain edible nectar and have a pleasant odour. They are also small-sized and are present in clusters.
2. Anther: Anther is hidden and found deep inside the flower.
3. Filament: Filament is strong and short.
4. Pollens: Pollens are sticky and less in number as compared to wind-pollinated flowers because insect pollination is more specific. This also results in less wastage.
5. Stigma: Stigma is small.
6. Ovary: Ovary is triovular.

FAQs on Insect Pollinated And Wind Pollinated Flowers

Q1: What is pollination?

Answer:

Pollination is the process of transferring pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of a flower, enabling fertilization.

Q2: What are the different pollinating agents?

Answer:

Pollinating agents can be abiotic (wind and water) or biotic (insects, bats, birds, and other animals).

Q3: What are the characteristics of wind-pollinated flowers?

Answer:

Wind-pollinated flowers have certain morphological features, like colourless, nectarless, and odourless flowers. They are small-sized, present in clusters, and have exerted anthers, long and slender filaments, lightweight and non-sticky pollens, exerted and feathery stigmas, and mono-ovular ovaries.

Q4: What are the characteristics of insect-pollinated flowers?

Answer:

Insect-pollinated flowers exhibit specific morphological features. They are colorful, contain edible nectar, and have a pleasant odor. They have small-sized flowers in clusters, hidden anthers, strong and short filaments, sticky and fewer pollens, small stigmas, and triovular ovaries.

Q5: How do the number of pollens and specificity differ between wind and insect pollination?

Answer:

Wind-pollinated flowers produce a large number of pollens, due to a significant amount of wastage as wind pollination is a random process. Whereas insect-pollinated flowers produce fewer sticky pollens because insect pollination is more specific, hence less wastage during pollination.