The evolution of floral scent: the influence of olfactory learning by insect pollinators on the honest signalling of floral rewards

Insect pollinators, like the tobacco hawkmoth Manduca sexta, are known for locating flowers and learning floral odors by using their antennae. A recent study revealed, however, that the tobacco hawkmoth additionally possesses olfactory sensilla at the tip of its proboscis. Here, we ask whether this second “nose” of the hawkmoth is similarly involved in odor learning as are the antennae. We first show that Manduca foraging efficiency at Nicotiana attenuata flowers increases with experience. This raises the question whether olfactory learning with the proboscis is playing a role during flower handling. By rewarding the moths at an artificial flower, we show that – while moths learn an odor easily when they perceive it with their antennae – experiencing the odor just with the proboscis is not sufficient for odor learning. Furthermore, experiencing the odor with the antennae during training does not affect the behavior of the moths when they later can detect the learned odor with the proboscis only. Therefore, there seems to be no cross-talk between antennae and proboscis and information learnt by the antennae cannot be retrieved by the proboscis.

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Floral Scent Contributes to Interaction Specificity in Coevolving Plants and Their Insect Pollinators

Journal of Chemical Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10886-014-0497-y ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 40 (9) ◽

pp. 955-965 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Magne Friberg ◽

Christopher Schwind ◽

Lindsey C. Roark ◽

Robert A. Raguso ◽

John N. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Floral Scent ◽

Insect Pollinators

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Nocturnal insect pollinator diversity and species richness in Ridge gourd, Luffa acutangula

Journal of Applied and Natural Science ◽

10.31018/jans.v13i2.2625 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 463-469

Author(s):

Archana H. Patil ◽

Sandesh Jagdale

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Floral Scent ◽

Visual Signals ◽

Agricultural Crop ◽

Agricultural Field ◽

Single Family ◽

Insect Pollinator ◽

The Family ◽

Insect Pollinators ◽

Luffa Acutangula

Pollinators are rewarding for many wild and agricultural crop plants. The experiments were conducted in the agricultural field of Karad tehsil, Maharashtra, India. The present study concentrated on the diversity and species richness of nocturnal insect pollinators on Ridge gourd Luffa acutangula belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. The Ridge gourd plant is monoecious with a bunch of male flowers and solitary female flower. Anthesis happened in late evening hours (17.00-19.00) and flowers remained for 13 to 14 hours. A total of 830 insect pollinators were sampled from June 2020 to November 2020. Altogether 17 species of insect pollinators belonging to 7 families under 6 orders were recorded. Among the total number of species, the Lepidoptera was the dominant order comprising 11 species belonging to the single family Crambidae followed by Blattodea comprising 2 species belonging to 2 families Ectobiidae and Blattidae. Hymenoptera comprised 1 species belonging to family Formicidae, followed by order Orthoptera comprising 1 species belonging to family Gryllidae, order Diptera comprising 1 species belonging to the family Culicidae, followed by the order Coleoptera comprising 1 species belonging to the family Chrysomelidae. The Diaphnia hyalinata belonging to family Crambidae of the order Lepidoptera was the most dominant species and was followed by Chabula acamasalis. The nocturnal species imparted pollination services to agricultural crops. The study also observed fundamental mechanisms of plant and nocturnal insect pollinator interaction as well as floral scent and visual signals. The study can be baseline data for conserving and managing the best pollinators for increasing the yield of Ridge gourd.

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Averting robo-bees: why free-flying robotic bees are a bad idea

Emerging Topics in Life Sciences ◽

10.1042/etls20190063 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (6) ◽

pp. 723-729

Author(s):

Roslyn Gleadow ◽

Jim Hanan ◽

Alan Dorin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Computer Simulation ◽

Food Security ◽

European Countries ◽

Plant Interactions ◽

Plant Insect Interactions ◽

Native Habitat ◽

Insect Pollinators ◽

Insect Interactions

Food security and the sustainability of native ecosystems depends on plant-insect interactions in countless ways. Recently reported rapid and immense declines in insect numbers due to climate change, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the introduction of agricultural monocultures, and the destruction of insect native habitat, are all potential contributors to this grave situation. Some researchers are working towards a future where natural insect pollinators might be replaced with free-flying robotic bees, an ecologically problematic proposal. We argue instead that creating environments that are friendly to bees and exploring the use of other species for pollination and bio-control, particularly in non-European countries, are more ecologically sound approaches. The computer simulation of insect-plant interactions is a far more measured application of technology that may assist in managing, or averting, ‘Insect Armageddon' from both practical and ethical viewpoints.

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