Flower orientation influences the consistency of bumblebee movement within inflorescences

Jordan, Crispin Y.; Natta, M.; Harder, Lawrence D.

doi:10.1093/aob/mcw132

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…With a male-biased display of flowers, A. napellus should preferentially attract pollinators that disperse pollen grains and contribute to male fitness 13,23 . Deposition of pollen on female-phase flowers is maintained by the pattern of upward foraging commonly exhibited in bumblebees on vertical inflorescences 14,23,36,41 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male flowers of Aconitum compensate for toxic pollen with increased floral signals and rewards for pollinators

Jacquemart

Buyens

Hérent

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Many plants require animal pollinators for successful reproduction; these plants provide pollinator resources in pollen and nectar (rewards) and attract pollinators by specific cues (signals). In a seeming contradiction, some plants produce toxins such as alkaloids in their pollen and nectar, protecting their resources from ineffective pollinators. We investigated signals and rewards in the toxic, protandrous bee-pollinated plant Aconitum napellus, hypothesizing that male-phase flower reproductive success is pollinator-limited, which should favour higher levels of signals (odours) and rewards (nectar and pollen) compared with female-phase flowers. Furthermore, we expected insect visitors to forage only for nectar, due to the toxicity of pollen. We demonstrated that male-phase flowers emitted more volatile molecules and produced higher volumes of nectar than female-phase flowers. Alkaloids in pollen functioned as chemical defences, and were more diverse and more concentrated compared to the alkaloids in nectar. Visitors actively collected little pollen for larval food but consumed more of the less-toxic nectar. Toxic pollen remaining on the bee bodies promoted pollen transfer efficiency, facilitating pollination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male flowers of Aconitum compensate for toxic pollen with increased floral signals and rewards for pollinators

Jacquemart

Buyens

Hérent

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…It is quite common among species possessing inflorescences with acropetal maturation that the apical flower opens first (Weberling, ), possibly indicating the apical flower's importance for attracting pollinators. And presenting paired branches, rather than single branches on each floor and producing flowers in the middle of lower branches, could save resources by shortening the floral stem and reducing the number of branches that have borne those middle flowers (Jordan et al, ). Further studies are needed to test these hypotheses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Floral visitors usually follow an optimal and possibly consistent route within inflorescences, which results in the maximum net rate of food gain (Heinrich, 1975;Hainsworth et al, 1983;Jordan & Harder, 2006). Plants possibly minimize occurrences of geitonogamy according to their visitors' behavior by spatial and temporal arrangement of flowers (Iwata et al, 2012;Jordan et al, 2016). Bee pollinators usually tend to start foraging at lower flowers and move upward in vertical inflorescences (Darwin, 1877;Utelli & Roy, 2000;Fisogni et al, 2011;Zhao et al, 2016); the placement of older and thus female flowers below younger male flowers in many protandrous plants is thought to have evolved to reduce geitonogamy, because lower female-phase flowers would receive pollen from other plants whereas upper male-phase flowers would disperse pollen to other plants (Harder et al, 2000;Routley & Husband, 2003;Jers akov a & Johnson, 2007;Liao & Harder, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How floral displays affect geitonogamy in an upward foraging bumblebee‐pollinated protandrous plant

Zhu

Yang

Liu

2019

J of Sytematics Evolution

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Reducing geitonogamy (pollen transfer among flowers within the same plant) has been suggested as a major selective force for plants with multiple flowers. The occurrence of geitonogamy is generally different among flowers within inflorescences; however, no researchers have examined whether plants enlarge their display size without increasing the possibility of geitonogamy by presenting more flowers at positions where they are less likely to be geitonogamously pollinated. We observed that bumblebee pollinators foraged upward within the tower‐shaped inflorescences of protandrous Megacodon stylophorus (C. B. Clarke) Harry Sm. Because M. stylophorus did not strictly bloom bottom‐up, there were substantial frequencies of geitonogamous pollination resulting from upward and horizontal pollen transfer. Although there was a strong correlation between total numbers of flowers plants produced and numbers of flowers presented on single days, proportions of flowers possibly geitonogamously pollinated were weakly correlated with total numbers of flowers. This might have been because plants with more resources enlarged their display size by producing more flowers on lower floors where flowers had a low probability of being geitonogamously pollinated. This study shows that the tower‐shaped inflorescences of M. stylophorus enlarge their size without more cost of geitonogamous mating, suggesting that geitonogamy acts as an important selective agent in the evolution of inflorescence architectures.

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Darwin’s inflorescence syndrome is indeed associated with bee pollination

Strelin,

da Cunha,

Rubini-Pisano

et al. 2023

Plant Reprod

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Flower orientation influences the consistency of bumblebee movement within inflorescences

Cited by 6 publications

References 37 publications

Male flowers of Aconitum compensate for toxic pollen with increased floral signals and rewards for pollinators

Male flowers of Aconitum compensate for toxic pollen with increased floral signals and rewards for pollinators

How floral displays affect geitonogamy in an upward foraging bumblebee‐pollinated protandrous plant

Darwin’s inflorescence syndrome is indeed associated with bee pollination

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