Question

Differentiate between wind and insect pollinated flowers.

Answer 1

Hint: The flowers pollinated by the biotic agents reward them with nectar. These flowers are most conspicuous and attract the pollinating agents by scent or bright colors.

 Complete answer:
We will first learn the pollination and the pollinating agents.
Flowers are the organs of sexual reproduction in plants. After the formation of male and female gametes by microsporogenesis and megasporogenesis respectively, pollination occurs.
During pollination, the pollen grains reach the stigma of the pistil to facilitate fertilization.
Here, we should understand that plants can exhibit autogamy, geitonogamy, and xenogamy. In geitonogamy and xenogamy, pollens from the anther are carried to the stigma of the pistil of another flower from the same or different plant, respectively. These two modes of pollination require the agents of pollination to facilitate the transport of pollen grains.
Several biotic and abiotic agents help in pollination. Wind, water, and wind are the most common abiotic agents of pollination while insects are the biotic agents. Some examples of wind-pollinated flowers are maize and parthenium while rose and snapdragon are insect-pollinated flowers.
 The differences between the wind and insect-pollinated flowers are as follows:

Wind pollinated flowers	Insect pollinated flowers
Flower petals are small and dull colored.	Flowers have petals of bright colors to attract the insects.
Flowers do not produce scent and nectar.	Flowers produce scent and nectar to attract insects.
Anthers have long and thin filaments to expose the stamens to the air currents.	The filament of the anther is not as long as in the wind-pollinated flowers.
Small-sized, light, and non-sticky pollen grains are produced to facilitate their transport with the wind.	Sticky or hairy pollens are produced that can easily get trapped on the body surfaces of the insects.
These flowers have the feathery stigma that traps the wind-pollinated pollen grains.	These flowers have a hairy and sticky stigma.

Note:
Nectar is rich in sugars and serves as an energy source for insects. Since insect-pollinated flowers produce fragrance to attract the pollinators, it should not be taken that all these plants produce sweet-smelling flowers. The odor depends on the pollinators. For example, the flowers pollinated by beetles produce a foul smell.