Pollen magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is highly useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology, and forensics. Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower. Pollen itself is not the male gamete. Each pollen grain contains vegetative (non-reproductive) cells (only a single cell in most flowering plants but several in other seed plants) and a generative (reproductive)
Pollen beetle but pollen is a major part of its diet. Several members of the Nitidulidae are similarly referred to as pollen beetles. In particular, practically all the species in the genus "Meligethes" are called pollen beetles. Of these the most notorious is probably the one now accepted as being properly called "Meligethes aeneus"/"Brassicogethes aeneus". It is called the "Brassica pollen beetle", "Rape pollen beetle" and similar names, because it first became prominent as a pest of such crops in the first quarter of the 20th century. Many species in the family Oedemeridae are similarly called "pollen beetles". For example, the Southern