My Crochet Midge

What in the world is this you say? It’s quite the rare item. It’s a crochet amigurumi midge. I doubt there is another one out there in this world.

Amigurumi is basically a crochet anthropomorphic creature. A midge is a tiny fly. The tiny fly which pollinates cacao. Cacao flowers are very tiny. So tiny, that bees cannot pollinate them.

Midges which pollinate cacao are said to be mostly female. It has been suggested that it could be that the pollen helps the growing eggs in the females, and so perhaps they seek this out or are more attracted to pollen than the males.

They are also not a species specific pollinator. This means unlike some other pollinators, they do not tend to have an active symbiotic relationship with cacao trees. They just happen to grow around the trees in the decomposing debris, and fly up and pollinate whatever is around them. There is not much proof to suggest they actively seek cacao flowers. That said, if it wasn’t for them, we likely wouldn’t have chocolate.