Buzz pollination: studying bee vibrations on flowers

Vallejo‐Marín, Mario

doi:10.1111/nph.15666

Cited by 124 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Buzz‐pollination (also referred to as “floral sonication”) is an excellent system for investigating body size effects on the behavioral interactions between pollinators and their host plants. Here, pollinators (mainly bees) extract pollen by mechanically vibrating the stamens where pollen is kept concealed inside modified (poricidal) anthers or corollas (Buchmann, ; Macior, ; Vallejo‐Marín, ). Buzz‐pollination is performed by female bees (Anthophila) in thousands of species, having evolved at least 45 times within the group (Cardinal, Buchmann, & Russell, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does body size predict the buzz‐pollination frequencies used by bees?

Luca

Buchmann

Galen

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Body size is an important trait linking pollinators and plants. Morphological matching between pollinators and plants is thought to reinforce pollinator fidelity, as the correct fit ensures that both parties benefit from the interaction. We investigated the influence of body size in a specialized pollination system (buzz‐pollination) where bees vibrate flowers to release pollen concealed within poricidal stamens. Specifically, we explored how body size influences the frequency of buzz‐pollination vibrations. Body size is expected to affect frequency as a result of the physical constraints it places on the indirect flight muscles that control the production of floral vibrations. Larger insects beat their wings less rapidly than smaller‐bodied insects when flying, but whether similar scaling relationships exist with floral vibrations has not been widely explored. This is important because the amount of pollen ejected is determined by the frequency of the vibration and the displacement of a bee's thorax. We conducted a field study in three ecogeographic regions (alpine, desert, grassland) and recorded flight and floral vibrations from freely foraging bees from 27 species across four families. We found that floral vibration frequencies were significantly higher than flight frequencies, but never exceeded 400 Hz. Also, only flight frequencies were negatively correlated with body size. As a bee's size increased, its buzz ratio (floral frequency/flight frequency) increased such that only the largest bees were capable of generating floral vibration frequencies that exceeded double that of their flight vibrations. These results indicate size affects the capacity of bees to raise floral vibration frequencies substantially above flight frequencies. This may put smaller bees at a competitive disadvantage because even at the maximum floral vibration frequency of 400 Hz, their inability to achieve comparable thoracic displacements as larger bees would result in generating vibrations with lower amplitudes, and thus less total pollen ejected for the same foraging effort.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does body size predict the buzz‐pollination frequencies used by bees?

Luca

Buchmann

Galen

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…2008; Barth et al, 2005), but also during nest construction (Rosenheim, 1987), and as a foraging tool 51 to harvest pollen from certain flowers (Macior, 1962; Thorp, 2000;Vallejo-Marín, 2019). borne vibrations are also the mechanism by which some bees dislodge and collect pollen on flowers 53 with poricidal anthers (anthers that release pollen through small pores or slits; (Buchmann, 1983).…”

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“…To get a complete view of how vibrations differ across bee behaviours, it is necessary to capture 103 both frequencies and amplitudes components (Vallejo-Marín, 2019 National Instruments, Newbury, UK) using a custom-made LabView (National Instruments) program 182 9 (available upon request). While the bee buzzed the flower, data were recorded during two seconds 183 at a sampling rate of 10240 Hz and saved to a file.…”

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Floral vibrations by buzz-pollinating bees achieve higher frequency, velocity and acceleration than flight and defence vibrations

Pritchard

Vallejo‐Marín

2019

Preprint

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AbstractVibrations play an important role in insect behaviour. In bees, vibrations are used in a variety of contexts including communication, as a warning signal to deter predators and during pollen foraging. However, little is known about how the biomechanical properties of bee vibrations vary across multiple behaviours within a species. In this study, we compared the properties of vibrations produced by Bombus terrestris audax (Hymenoptera: Apidae) workers in three contexts: during flight, during defensive buzzing, and in floral vibrations produced during pollen foraging on two buzz-pollinated plants (Solanum, Solanaceae). Using laser vibrometry, we were able to obtain contactless measures of both the frequency and amplitude of the thoracic vibrations of bees across the three behaviours. Despite all three types of vibrations being produced by the same power flight muscles, we found clear differences in the mechanical properties of the vibrations produced in different contexts. Both floral and defensive buzzes had higher frequency and amplitude velocity, acceleration, and displacement than the vibrations produced during flight. Floral vibrations had the highest frequency, amplitude velocity and acceleration of all the behaviours studied. Vibration amplitude, and in particular acceleration, of floral vibrations has been suggested as the key property for removing pollen from buzz-pollinated anthers. By increasing frequency and amplitude velocity and acceleration of their vibrations during vibratory pollen collection, foraging bees may be able to maximise pollen removal from flowers, although their foraging decisions are likely to be influenced by the presumably high cost of producing floral vibrations.

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“…As a newcomer to plant science I love the Tansley reviews and Tansley insights – ones I have particularly enjoyed have been ‘The physics of pollinator attraction’ by my fantastic collaborators Edwige Moyroud & Beverley Glover (), and ‘Handedness in plant cell expansion: a mutant perspective on helical growth’ by Buschmann & Borchers (). I have recently also very much enjoyed the Tansley insight by Mario Vallejo‐Marín () ‘Buzz pollination: studying bee vibrations on flowers’ , which is a really exciting introduction to the world of vibration stimulation and bee–flower mechanical interaction. I am fascinated by the sensory ecology of animal interactions with plants and how colours are in plants, so two other notable research papers are ‘How colorful are fruits?…”

Section: What Are Your Favourite New Phytologist Papers Of Recent Yeamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rox Middleton

2019

New Phytologist

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Buzz pollination: studying bee vibrations on flowers

Cited by 124 publications

References 37 publications

Does body size predict the buzz‐pollination frequencies used by bees?

Does body size predict the buzz‐pollination frequencies used by bees?

Floral vibrations by buzz-pollinating bees achieve higher frequency, velocity and acceleration than flight and defence vibrations

Rox Middleton

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