scholarly journals Tales of the unexpected – ant pollination mutualism

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 558-558
Author(s):  
Nicola Delnevo ◽  
Eddie J Etten
Keyword(s):  
Ant Pollination ◽  
Pollination Mutualism

COSPECIATION ANALYSIS OF AN OBLIGATE POLLINATION MUTUALISM: HAVE GLOCHIDION TREES (EUPHORBIACEAE) AND POLLINATING EPICEPHALA MOTHS (GRACILLARIIDAE) DIVERSIFIED IN PARALLEL?

Evolution ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. 2201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsushi Kawakita ◽  
Atsushi Takimura ◽  
Toru Terachi ◽  
Teiji Sota ◽  
Makoto Kato
Keyword(s):  
Pollination Mutualism ◽  
Obligate Pollination Mutualism

scholarly journals Specialization in the yucca-yucca moth obligate pollination mutualism: A role for antagonism?

2016 ◽  
Vol 103 (10) ◽  
pp. 1803-1809 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Althoff
Keyword(s):  
Pollination Mutualism ◽  
Obligate Pollination Mutualism

ANT INHIBITION OF POLLEN FUNCTION: A POSSIBLE REASON WHY ANT POLLINATION IS RARE

1984 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Beattie ◽  
Christine Turnbull ◽  
R. B. Knox ◽  
E. G. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Ant Pollination

scholarly journals Pollen adaptation to ant pollination: a case study from the Proteaceae

2020 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Delnevo ◽  
Eddie J van Etten ◽  
Nicola Clemente ◽  
Luna Fogu ◽  
Evelina Pavarani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Set ◽  
Germination Rate ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Relative Effect ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pollen Load ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Ant Pollination ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Floral Visitors

Abstract Background and Aims Ant–plant associations are widely diverse and distributed throughout the world, leading to antagonistic and/or mutualistic interactions. Ant pollination is a rare mutualistic association and reports of ants as effective pollinators are limited to a few studies. Conospermum (Proteaceae) is an insect-pollinated genus well represented in the south-western Australia biodiversity hotspot, and here we aimed to evaluate the role of ants as pollinators of C. undulatum. Methods Pollen germination after contact with several species of ants and bees was tested for C. undulatum and five co-flowering species for comparison. We then sampled the pollen load of floral visitors of C. undulatum to assess whether ants carried a pollen load sufficient to enable pollination. Lastly, we performed exclusion treatments to assess the relative effect of flying- and non-flying-invertebrate floral visitors on the reproduction of C. undulatum. For this, we measured the seed set under different conditions: ants exclusion, flying-insects exclusion and control. Key Results Pollen of C. undulatum, along with the other Conospermum species, had a germination rate after contact with ants of ~80 % which did not differ from the effect of bees; in contrast, the other plant species tested showed a drop in the germination rate to ~10 % following ant treatments. Although ants were generalist visitors, they carried a pollen load with 68–86 % of suitable grains. Moreover, ants significantly contributed to the seed set of C. undulatum. Conclusions Our study highlights the complexity of ant–flower interactions and suggests that generalizations neglecting the importance of ants as pollinators cannot be made. Conospermum undulatum has evolved pollen with resistance to the negative effect of ant secretions on pollen grains, with ants providing effective pollination services to this threatened species.

scholarly journals Chemical signal is in the blend: bases of plant-pollinator encounter in a highly specialized interaction

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Proffit ◽  
Benoit Lapeyre ◽  
Bruno Buatois ◽  
Xiaoxia Deng ◽  
Pierre Arnal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pollinator Attraction ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Electrophysiological Tests ◽  
Plant Recognition ◽  
Pollination Mutualism ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Small Change ◽  
Insect Interactions ◽  
Behavioural Tests ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Abstract In several highly specialized plant-insect interactions, scent-mediated specificity of pollinator attraction is directed by the emission and detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Although some plants engaged in such interactions emit singular compounds, others emit mixtures of VOCs commonly emitted by plants. We investigated the chemical ecological bases of host plant recognition in the nursery pollination mutualism between the dioecious Ficus carica and its specific pollinator Blastophaga psenes. Using Y-tube olfactometer tests, we show that B. psenes females are attracted by VOCs of receptive figs of both sexes and do not exhibit preference for VOCs of either male or female figs. Electrophysiological tests and chemical analysis revealed that of all the VOCs emitted by receptive figs, only five were found to be active on female antennae. Behavioural tests show that, in contrast to VOCs presented alone, only a blend with a particular proportion of four of these VOCs is as attractive as the odour of receptive figs, and that if there is a very small change in this blend proportion, the pollinator is no longer attracted. This study revealed that in highly specialized mutualistic interactions specificity could be mediated by a particular blend of common compounds emitted by plants.

Why ant pollination is rare: new evidence and implications of the antibiotic hypothesis

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily M. Dutton ◽  
Megan E. Frederickson
Keyword(s):  
Ant Pollination ◽  
New Evidence

scholarly journals High Temperatures Result in Smaller Nurseries which Lower Reproduction of Pollinators and Parasites in a Brood Site Pollination Mutualism

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. e115118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anusha Krishnan ◽  
Gautam Kumar Pramanik ◽  
Santosh V. Revadi ◽  
Vignesh Venkateswaran ◽  
Renee M. Borges
Keyword(s):  
High Temperatures ◽  
Pollination Mutualism

Phylogenetic origins of Lophocereus (Cactaceae) and the senita cactus-senita moth pollination mutualism

2002 ◽  
Vol 89 (7) ◽  
pp. 1085-1092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hartmann ◽  
John D. Nason ◽  
Debashish Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Moth Pollination ◽  
Pollination Mutualism
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