What is the approximate percentage of the world's food crops that are pollinated by insects?

About 80% of angiosperms (flowering plants) rely on biotic pollination.

More commonly, pollination involves pollinators (also called pollen vectors): organisms that carry or move the pollen grains from the anther of one flower to the receptive part of the carpel or pistil (stigma) of another. Between 100,000 and 200,000 species of animal act as pollinators of the world's 250,000 species of flowering plant. The vast majority of these pollinators are insects.

Entomophily (pollination by insects) often occurs on plants that have developed colored petals and a strong scent to attract insects such as, bees, wasps and occasionally ants (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), and flies (Diptera). The existence of insect pollination dates back to the dinosaur era.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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21 Comments

klmilles

This answer is just wrong. The 80% number is for ALL flowering plants, not just foods. Nowhere in the explanation do you reference “food crops.” Moreover, most reputable references identify the rate of insect pollination of food crops as being around 35%. Please see, for example: https://metafact.io/factcheck_answers/378; https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/08/12/pollinator-myth-bees-responsible-one-third-global-food-heightening-crisis-like-7/; http://www.fao.org/pollination/background/en/

johnbheymann

Incorrect answer ! 80% or world’s flowering plant species are pollinated by insects and 35% OF WORLDS CROP PRODUCTION IS POLLINATED BY INSECTS .

Gregory Yorgey Ph.D

Way off think it closer to 35%~40%

Chris Braid

Incorrect answer. 80% is the total number of plants pollinated by insects. The number of insect pollinated food crops is approximately 35%.

David Smith

Bats pollinate a lot of fruit plants too.

Dennis Walker

Do you really enjoy eating flowers SPG? (which taste the best?) I would have thought the answer would easily be below 50% of “food crops” would require bee pollination

Michael W. Strode

35% for food. 80% for flowering plants.

Rita Colette Flaherty

No bees no food no people,,,Rita.Flaherty

Pauline Davison

kimilles is correct.

Naked Kitty Slave

Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. More than 3,500 species of native bees help increase crop yields. 35% is quite a ways off from 80%.