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Pollination biology at the community level was investigated using quantitative techniques, comparative methodology, measurements of the physical habitat, and consideration of floral characteristics. The frequency of insect visits to flowers was investigated in three contrasting communities: a deciduous woodland‐meadow site in eastern Massachusetts, alpine tundra in New Hampshire, and Mediterranean scrub (fynbos) in South Africa. Visits to flowers were most common in woodland‐meadow, followed by alpine tundra, and least frequent in fynbos. Bees were the most common visitor in the woodland‐meadow and the fynbos, but flies were the most common visitor in the tundra. Flower color often influenced visitation rates and had a weak but significant effect on the type of insect that visited flowers. Preferences for color by different types of insects often changed in different communities, which suggests that floral …