Question

Which of the following terms describes pollination by the agency of ants?
A. Chiropterophily
B. Entomophily
C. Ornithophily
D. Myrmecophily

Answer 1

Hint: The pollens are formed in the anther of the male part of the flower. The pollen will travel via stigma and style to have fusion with the female part of the cell. The resulting embryo is implanted there and gets nutrition via endosperm formed by triple fusion.

Complete answer: The pollen fuses with the egg cell to produce the embryo which will be the seed in the fruit. The process of transfer of pollen to the female flower is called pollination. This will help the plants to reproduce. The pollen is present in male gametophytes, so it needs a medium by which it can travel to the flower. That medium will act as a pollinator. There are two types of pollination- self-pollination, and cross-pollination. In the self-pollination, the male and female parts are nearby. In the cross-pollination, there is a requirement of a pollinator that will carry the pollen to the female flower part. The pollinator could be any organism or medium which can make pollen to transport from one place to another. The contact of the male anther and female stigma in physical aspects is not that important. A pollinator can be biotic or abiotic. The agents include water, wind, animals, and insects. On the basis of pollinating agents, there are the following types of cross-pollination –
1. Hydrophilous flowers – pollination by water.
2. Zoophilous flowers – pollination by humans, bats, etc.
3. Anemophilous flowers – pollination by wind.
4. Entomophilic flowers – pollination by insects.
5. Ornithophilous flowers – pollination by birds.
Option A: Chiropterophily: The pollination by the bats is called chiropterophily.
Option B: Entomophily: The pollination by the insects is called entomophily.
Option C: Ornithophily: The pollinators are birds, the pollination is called ornithophily.
Option D: Myrmecophily: Pollination by the agency of ants is called Myrmecophily. Ants can crawl up to the female flower parts to pollinate them. They usually are good at sucking nectar and pollinate flowers by cross-pollination.
So, the answer is option D: Myrmecophily

Note: In the absence of pollinators, the pollination still occurs. It occurs in flowers like Viola, peas, etc. There are reduced sepals and petals in them. Nectars are also absent. They do not need pollinators to attract the pollinators to have the pollination.