The effect of sugar solution type, sugar concentration and viscosity on the imbibition and energy intake rate of bumblebees

Nardone, Erika; Dey, Tania; Kevan, Peter G.

doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2013.06.007

Cited by 32 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…25 min on a 2.5 M honey solution (Siekmann et al, 2001). Viscosity of honey and sugar solutions increases exponentially with concentration (Kingsolver and Daniel, 1995;Nardone et al, 2013), and this increased viscosity can slow the rate of ingestion (Heyneman, 1983;Josens et al, 2006;Siekmann et al, 2001) and thus affect longevity if feeding is interrupted before the wasp becomes satiated. Our observation that the effect of sucrose on longevity is reduced as the concentration increases indicates that highly concentrated sugar solutions are underexploited.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar concentration and timing of feeding affect feeding characteristics and survival of a parasitic wasp

Williams¹,

Deschodt

Pointurier

et al. 2015

Journal of Insect Physiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sugar concentration and timing of feeding affect feeding characteristics and survival of a parasitic wasp

Williams¹,

Deschodt

Pointurier

et al. 2015

Journal of Insect Physiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The ability for sugar intake might be limited for certain visitor species, thereby preferring plants with specific sugar concentrations (e.g. Nardone et al 2013), or rather select for nectar volume or amino acid content (Petanidou et al 2006). Therefore, the effect of floral resources may depend on the specific requirements of the species composing each pollinator community.…”

Section: Effect Of Flower Resource Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential for indirect effects between co‐flowering plants via shared pollinators depends on resource abundance, accessibility and relatedness

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Co-flowering plant species commonly share flower visitors, and thus have the potential to influence each other's pollination. In this study we analysed 750 quantitative plant-pollinator networks from 28 studies representing diverse biomes worldwide. We show that the potential for one plant species to influence another indirectly via shared pollinators was greater for plants whose resources were more abundant (higher floral unit number and nectar sugar content) and more accessible. The potential indirect influence was also stronger between phylogenetically closer plant species and was independent of plant geographic origin (native vs. non-native). The positive effect of nectar sugar content and phylogenetic proximity was much more accentuated for bees than for other groups. Consequently, the impact of these factors depends on the pollination mode of plants, e.g. bee or fly pollinated. Our findings may help predict which plant species have the greatest importance in the functioning of plant-pollination networks.

show abstract

“…The energy content of the solutions mimicking unripe fruit (1600 kJ l −1 ) was reduced to 50% as compared with the solutions mimicking ripe and over-ripe fruit (3200 kJ l −1 for both). The viscosity of all solutions was comparable, as their sucrose concentrations were below the threshold (30-40% sucrose) beyond which viscosity increases and the imbibition rate of the proboscis decreases (Krenn, 2010;Nardone et al, 2013). All feeding solutions were topped up every day, and entirely renewed every other day across the oviposition period.…”

Section: Fitness and Physiological Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding on ripening and over-ripening fruit: interactions between sugar, ethanol and polyphenol contents in a tropical butterfly

Beaulieu

Franke

Fischer

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In ripe fruit, energy mostly derives from sugar, while in over-ripe fruit, it also comes from ethanol. Such ripeness differences may alter the fitness benefits associated with frugivory if animals are unable to degrade ethanol when consuming over-ripe fruit. In the tropical butterfly Bicyclus anynana, we found that females consuming isocaloric solutions mimicking ripe (20% sucrose) and over-ripe fruit (10% sucrose, 7% ethanol) of the palm Astrocaryum standleyanum exhibited higher fecundity than females consuming a solution mimicking unripe fruit (10% sucrose). Moreover, relative to butterflies consuming a solution mimicking unripe fruit, survival was enhanced when butterflies consumed a solution mimicking either ripe fruit supplemented with polyphenols (fruit antioxidant compounds) or over-ripe fruit devoid of polyphenols. This suggests that (1) butterflies have evolved tolerance mechanisms to derive the same reproductive benefits from ethanol and sugar, and (2) polyphenols may regulate the allocation of sugar and ethanol to maintenance mechanisms. However, variation in fitness owing to the composition of feeding solutions was not paralleled by corresponding physiological changes (alcohol dehydrogenase activity, oxidative status) in butterflies. The fitness proxies and physiological parameters that we measured therefore appear to reflect distinct biological pathways. Overall, our results highlight that the energy content of fruit primarily affects the fecundity of B. anynana butterflies, while the effects of fruit consumption on survival are more complex and vary depending on ripening stage and polyphenol presence. The actual underlying physiological mechanisms linking fruit ripeness and fitness components remain to be clarified.

show abstract

The effect of sugar solution type, sugar concentration and viscosity on the imbibition and energy intake rate of bumblebees

Cited by 32 publications

References 34 publications

Sugar concentration and timing of feeding affect feeding characteristics and survival of a parasitic wasp

Sugar concentration and timing of feeding affect feeding characteristics and survival of a parasitic wasp

The potential for indirect effects between co‐flowering plants via shared pollinators depends on resource abundance, accessibility and relatedness

Feeding on ripening and over-ripening fruit: interactions between sugar, ethanol and polyphenol contents in a tropical butterfly

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About