Forcipomyia squamipennis is an important pollinator of the cacao tree Theobroma cacao in Ghana,[1] not because it pollinates more effectively than other insects but because it is so numerous in cacao plantations. The population is greatest in the rainy season. Adult midges spend the day in shady spots such as between the buttress roots of large trees, in crevices in logs, in hollow stumps or in piles of husk debris. They emerge at variable times of day to swarm near their hiding locations, and disperse in the late afternoons and early mornings. Most midges do not move further than about 6 m (20 ft). The females lay batches of up to about ninety eggs on damp piles of plant debris. The eggs hatch after two or three days and the larvae pass through four instar stages before pupating at about twelve days. The adults survive for about a week and there are thought to be about twelve generations of the midge per year. Both sexes feed on the pollen of the cacao flower, but four times more males visit the flowers than do females.[1]
