How Do Flies Make Chocolate?

Chocolate is an ingredient that’s been around for centuries. The process of making chocolate starts with the pollination of cacao flowers. Unlike most plants, cacao trees do not self-pollinate. The flower buds of cacao trees start to open up around late afternoon. Eventually, the flowers are fully open before dawn. This is when flies can best reach the cacao trees and pollinate them.

But how do these flies get to the cacao trees? The cacao plant is an extremely challenging plant to grow. The cacao flowers are tiny and require a lot of pollination to produce fruit. Unlike most plants, cacao trees require midges to produce the cacao beans, so they’re dependent on the insects’ pollination services.

The cacao process requires many animals and insects to perform their tasks. Farmers can’t keep domestic honeybees in their fields, and they rely on wild insects to pollinate and ferment the cocoa fruits. In addition to these insects, cacao trees can harbor dozens of fungi species. These fungi are not harmful to humans, and they are needed to pollinate the cocoa tree.

There are more than 160,000 species of flies in the world. Some of them have specialized relationships with specific flowers, while others are generalists that pollinate a variety of plants. Flies pollinate more than 100 cultivated crops, including cocoa trees. Flies also contribute pollination for several wild plants and medicinal plants.

Continue reading:

Do Fly Traps Expire? Can You Use Fly Spray on Plants? Can You Eat the Fly Agaric Mushroom? How to Visit the Burning Man Geyser How Do Flies Turn Into Maggots? Can Fly Larvae Regrow Legs? How Quickly Can Fruit Flies Reproduce? Dragonflies and Other Insects Play Dead to Avoid Predators