Some species of plants and bees have developed a close interdependence in connection withpollination . Such a mutual adaptation and interdependence between a plant and pollinator is a result of a long and intimate co-evolutionary relationship. The pollinating bees of the Brazil nut tree Bertholletia excelsa is an illustrative example of such a relationship and its economic importance. The Brazil nut tree grows wild in the Amazon Forest. Brazil nuts are one of the economically most important wild products growing trees in the area, with more than 50 000 tonnes of the nuts exported from Brazil every year. The Brazil nut trees cannot be grown in plantations, because they need to be pollinated by one special bee species, the small shining Euglossa bee. This bee is dependent on the presence of an orchid species that is found only in the rain forest . They are also the only pollinators for a number of orchids in the forest. In some species of Euglossa, the male bee collects some sce...
