Phoenix (plant) hybridisation and cross-pollination. Several natural hybrids were hence obtained: "P. dactylifera X. P. sylvestris "(India)," P. dactylifera × P. canariensis" (Morocco, Algeria and Israel), and " P. dactylifera × P. reclinata "(Senegal). "Phoenix" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including "Paysandisia archon" and the "Batrachedra" species "B. amydraula" (recorded on "P. dactylifera"), "B. arenosella" and "B. isochtha" (feeds exclusively on "Phoenix" spp.). The fruit of "P. dactylifera", the date of commerce, is large with a thick layer of fruit pulp, edible, very sweet and rich in sugar; the other species have only a
Fruit tree pollination for apple trees, although members of the genera "Andrena", "Bombus", "Halictus", and "Osmia" pollinate apple trees in the wild. Solitary bees such as ground-nesting mining bees ("Andrena") may play a far bigger role in pollination than at one time suspected. Bumble bees are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually in enough quantity to be significant pollinators; in the home garden with only a few trees, their role may be much greater. Increasingly Orchard bees (spring mason bees) are being used in fruit tree pollination. According to British writer Christopher O'Toole in his book "The Red Mason Bee", "Osmia rufa"