For 10 years he studied why so few blooms were pollinated. As the entomology curator at the Milwaukee Public Museum, which owns the preserve, he focused, naturally, on the insects that frequented cacao, and found that instead of bees certain midge species -- a group of gnatlike flies -- were its chief pollinators. Young scattered chopped-up bits of banana plants and leaf litter in stands of cacao and recorded the numbers of the beneficial midges. He also experimented with other possible aids to breeding the flies, including artificial bromeliads constructed of plastic cups and decaying plant matter.

He stayed on the lookout for clues -- the times of day and seasons most favorable for pollination; whether sun or shade, wet or dry areas fostered the largest population of midges; whether the midges might have a preference for certain kinds of rotting debris; whether more midges necessarily lead to larger numbers of healthy cacao pods.