Caring for Pollinators - Bundesamt für Naturschutz

Ssymank, Kearns, Pape & Thompson Fact sheet pollinators: Flies (Diptera)
Specific remarks
• Probably as little as 10% of fly species are named and described. Considerable re-
search is needed to fill large gaps in current taxonomic knowledge. In addition, ap-
plied research into Diptera as pollinators in agriculture and of wild plants is needed.
• Diptera probably were among the first angiosperm pollinators and may have been in-
strumental in early angiosperm radiation.
• Mobility of species varies a lot, ranging from local territorial behaviour around a single
bush to long distance migration.
• Diptera visit many species of wild plants, but they are also important for pollination in
greenhouses (Calliphoridae, Syrphidae) and for commercial seed production.
Authors' addresses:
Axel Ssymank, Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN, I.2.2, German Federal Agency for Nature
Conservation), Konstantinstrasse 110, 53179 Bonn, Germany. E-mail: Ssymanka@bfn.de
(Corresponding author).
Carol Ann Kearns, Ph.D. Department of Biology, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara Univer-
sity, Santa Clara, CA 95053-0268, USA.
Thomas Pape, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Zoological Museum, Universitetsparken
15, DK - 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
F. Christian Thompson, Systematic Entomology Lab., ARS, USDA, c/o Smithsonian Institu-
tion MRC-0169, PO Box 37012, Washington, D. C. USA 20013-7012.
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