Floral visitors of the holoparasite Bdallophytum andrieuxii Eichler: A new report of brood-site pollination and thermogenesis for Cytinaceae (Malvales)

The floral biology and the role of staminal connective appendages during pollination of the endoparasite Bdallophytum americanum (Cytinaceae)

“…Despite those floral traits such as dark floral colour and foetid smell resembling decaying material, pollination by carrion flies has only been reported in one population of B. americanum (García-Franco and Rico-Gray 1997 ). The other Bdallophytum species B. andrieuxii and B. oxylepis are pollinated by butterflies, and stingless bees, respectively (Rios-Carrasco et al 2022a , 2022b ), in addition to the present study in which B. americanum flowers are pollinated by hoverflies. Although butterflies, stingless bees, and hoverflies are not typically classified as carrion pollinators like certain groups of flies or beetles (Jürgens and Shuttleworth 2015 ), their carrion behaviour includes them as carrion pollinators.…”

“…Sapromyophilous traits are exclusive of the genus Bdallophytum within the Cytinaceae (Rios-Carrasco et al 2022a , 2022b ). Despite those floral traits such as dark floral colour and foetid smell resembling decaying material, pollination by carrion flies has only been reported in one population of B. americanum (García-Franco and Rico-Gray 1997 ).…”

“…Sapromyophily has been highly reported for different non-parasitic angiosperm species such as Araceae, Apocynaceae, Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and others (Johnson 2016 ; Jürgens and Shuttleworth 2015 ), but as we mentioned before, the sapromyophilous endoparasites have received less attention. In that sense, in addition to Rafflesiaceae, other endoparasitic sapromyophilous species exist, such as those of the genus Bdallophytum of the Cytinaceae family (García-Franco and Rico-Gray 1997 ; Rios-Carrasco et al 2022a , 2022b ). Pollination studies confirmed that B. americanum (formerly B. bambusarum ) is pollinated by carrion flies (García-Franco and Rico-Gray 1997 ), while B. andrieuxii and B. oxylepis are pollinated by butterflies and stingless bees respectively, indicating that carrion behaviour is not exclusive to carrion flies (Rios-Carrasco et al 2022a , 2022b ).…”

“…In that sense, in addition to Rafflesiaceae, other endoparasitic sapromyophilous species exist, such as those of the genus Bdallophytum of the Cytinaceae family (García-Franco and Rico-Gray 1997 ; Rios-Carrasco et al 2022a , 2022b ). Pollination studies confirmed that B. americanum (formerly B. bambusarum ) is pollinated by carrion flies (García-Franco and Rico-Gray 1997 ), while B. andrieuxii and B. oxylepis are pollinated by butterflies and stingless bees respectively, indicating that carrion behaviour is not exclusive to carrion flies (Rios-Carrasco et al 2022a , 2022b ).…”