Editing Symbiosis (section)

=== Pollination ===

[[File:Hummingbird hawkmoth a.jpg|upright|thumb|Pollination is a mutualism between [[flowering plant]]s and their animal pollinators.]]

{{Further|Entomophily|Ornithophily|Reproductive coevolution in Ficus}}

[[Flowering plant]]s and the animals that [[pollinate]] them have co-evolved. Many plants that are pollinated by [[insect]]s (in [[entomophily]]), [[bat]]s, or [[bird]]s (in [[ornithophily]]) have highly specialized flowers modified to promote pollination by a specific pollinator that is correspondingly adapted. The first flowering plants in the fossil record had relatively simple flowers. Adaptive [[speciation]] quickly gave rise to many diverse groups of plants, and, at the same time, corresponding speciation occurred in certain [[Insect ecology#Symbiosis|insect groups]]. Some groups of plants developed nectar and large sticky pollen, while insects evolved more specialized morphologies to access and collect these rich food sources. In some taxa of plants and insects, the relationship has become dependent,<ref>{{Harvnb|Harrison|2002}}</ref> where the plant species can only be pollinated by one species of insect.<ref>{{Harvnb|Danforth|Ascher|1999}}</ref>

[[File:Ant - Pseudomyrmex species, on Bull Thorn Acacia (Acacia cornigera) with Beltian bodies, Caves Branch Jungle Lodge, Belmopan, Belize - 8505045055.jpg|thumb|''Pseudomyrmex'' ant on bull thorn acacia (''[[Vachellia cornigera]]'') with Beltian bodies that provide the ants with protein<ref name="Hölldobler-1990">{{cite book |last1=Hölldobler |first1=Bert |last2=Wilson |first2=Edward O. |author2-link=E. O. Wilson |url=https://archive.org/details/ants0000hlld |title=The Ants |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-674-04075-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ants0000hlld/page/532 532]–533 |url-access=registration}}</ref>]]