I suspect that Janet Fang's claim that “thousands of plant species” are pollinated by mosquitoes (Nature 466, 432–434; 2010) is an exaggeration. There are hardly any papers published on mosquitoes as pollinators, and only one plant species in North America — the orchid Platanthera obtusata — has been reported to be pollinated by these insects (J. R. Gorham Am. Midl. Nat. 95, 208–210;1976).
Given the mismatch between mosquito morphology and most flowers, it is likely that they are stealing nectar without acting as pollinators.
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Inouye, D. Mosquitoes: more likely nectar thieves than pollinators. Nature 467, 27 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467027d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/467027d
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