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CCA biplot of pollinator groups and bands of the colour spectrum (coloured squares) corresponding to UV, blue, yellow and red (data from the four communities lumped together). Each dot represents a plant population and dot colours correspond to the flower colour categories shown in the legend (for example spectra of each category, see Table S1). BEE, bees; ANT, ants; WAS, wasps; DIP, dipterans; COL, coleopterans; LEP, lepidopterans.
Source publication
Background and aims:
Colour is one of the main floral traits used by pollinators to locate flowers. Although pollinators show innate colour preferences, the view that the colour of a flower may be considered an important predictor of its main pollinators is highly controversial because flower choice is highly context-dependent, and initial innate...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... bees were associated with purple flowers and ants with UV-yellow and green flowers. Wasps and dipterans were mostly associated with UV-yellow flowers. Coleopterans were associated with white and yellow flowers and lepidopterans with pink flowers (Table 4, Fig. ...
Context 2
... colours. These associations were less clear in the com- munities with lower numbers of plant species, but were very ap- parent when the results of all 109 populations were lumped together (Fig. 2). Importantly, these associations are notably congruent with innate colour preferences found for specific pol- linators ( Lunau and Maier, 1995;Willmer, 2011). For example, inexperienced Eristalis tenax hoverflies were found to land only on artificial flowers with yellow stimuli in the range of 520-600 nm ( Lunau and Maier, 1995). Naive ...
Citations
... This is because the flower color tendency that is attractive to the two members of this order is not shared by A. liliifolia. Members of the order Coleoptera are attracted to the color of white-yellow flowers, while members of the order Lepidoptera are attracted to the pink color (Reverté et al., 2016). This interest is why members of these two orders do not visit the white and purple A. liliifolia orchid. ...
Besides being a microhabitat for insects, Acriopsis liliifolia orchid's economic value can be increased through cultivation techniques, but it is constrained because A. liliifolia flowers can't self-pollinate. Based on their flower structure, insects have the potential to become their pollinator. Insect visitors of A. liliifolia must be identified to know their species diversity and roles during visiting orchids. The research was conducted in Ayunan Langit, Sabrangkidul, Kalurahan Purwosari, Girimulyo, Kulon Progo from September to October 2023. Insect collection was done manually by brush and then put in a flask bottle containing 5 mL of 70% alcohol. The collected specimens were then carried out to the Entomology Laboratory, Faculty of Biology, Gadjah Mada University, and identified based on morphology characters. The results showed that there was one member of Cicadellidae and 14 species of insect visitors to the A. liliifolia. The majority of insect visitors acted as herbivores (73.33%), 20% as carnivores, and the rest is unknown. It is predicted that the Braunsapis genus is a pollinator because it has a tonguelike maxilla and labium used to suck nectar. In this study, we conclude that the diversity of insect visitor species in A. liliifolia is moderate (H’= 1.95) and Braunsapis has potential as a pollinators
... We observed that Passiflora caerulea and Scabiosa triandra are significantly associated with a high abundance of hymenopteran pollinators. Both species have been recognized as entomophilous [61,62], and they both present purple-pink flowers that are thought to be attractive to bees [63]. ...
While olive trees are primarily wind-pollinated, biodiversity-friendly management of the groves can contribute to the conservation of pollinating insects in olive agroecosystems. Previous research demonstrated that semi-natural habitats, such as herbaceous linear elements and woody areas, support the community of pollinators in agroecosystems. Less is known about the contribution of low-input olive groves with a permanent ground cover on terraced landscapes. This study investigated the relationship between pollinator communities and semi-natural habitats, including spontaneous vegetation, in a traditional terraced Mediterranean olive grove agroecosystem. The research employed pan traps to monitor wild bees and observation walks to assess the butterfly community across three different habitat types in spring, summer, and autumn during two growing seasons. Floral resources in the habitats were assessed during each sampling time. Analysis showed that herbaceous habitats support a higher abundance of wild bees than woody areas, while olive groves do not differ significantly from either habitat type, despite exhibiting the highest floral abundance. This suggests that habitat structure, rather than floral availability alone, plays a role in maintaining the wild bee community. For butterflies, results demonstrate that the overall abundance does not differ between habitats, while the species composition does. The study emphasizes the importance of preserving diverse habitats, and in particular low-input olive groves, within agricultural landscapes to support a wide range of pollinator species.
... Most of the pollinators depend on flowers for sustenance in the form of nectar and pollen (Theodorou et al., 2017). Therefore, floral traits such as odour, shape, size, and color serve as indicators for locating pollen-nectar sources and distinguishing various crop species (Chittka & Raine, 2006;Reverté et al., 2016). This study was aimed at observing floral visitor interactions and their diversity on selected four vegetable crops, such as Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) ...
This study investigates the floral visitors and potential pollinators of four selected vegetable plant species. We observed 10 plants of each species to catalog floral visitors and assess their pollination roles based on visitation rates. The study utilized the Simpson's diversity index (SDI), Shannon-Wiener index (SWI), and Chi-square analysis to interpret the data. We recorded 14 distinct floral visitors spanning 7 families within 3 orders: Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera. Notably, Apidae, Vespidae, Formicidae, Chrysomelidae, Hesperiidae, Halictidae, and Curculionidae were among the observed families. Benincasa hispida exhibited the highest diversity of floral visitors (11 species), likely attributable to its large petal size. In contrast, the other plants attracted four visitor species each. The study revealed significant variability in visitation rates across plant species (P < 0.005). Tetragonula iridipennis and Campnotus sp. were common visitors, with Tetragonula iridipennis identified as a consistent probable pollinator for all studied plants. Diversity indices demonstrated that Benincasa hispida had the highest SDI (0.8861) and SWI (2.26), surpassing Solanum melongena (0.7496 and 1.386), Abelmoschus esculentus (0.7249 and 1.328), and Capsicum frutescens (0.7449 and 1.376). These findings highlight the complex interactions between floral morphology, visitor diversity, and pollinator effectiveness, providing valuable insights into plant-pollinator dynamics in the region.
... While we expected nectar production to be indicative of pollinator preferences, this was not observed. Previous studies have suggested that although abundance of resources (pollen and nectar) and f lower colour are likely associated with pollinator preferences, the exact mechanism is not fully understood nor uniform (Reverté et al. 2016;Trunschke et al. 2021;Pizante et al. 2023). Furthermore, structural diversity, although positive, had the weakest relationship to other functions. ...
Green roofs provide vital functions within the urban ecosystem, from supporting biodiversity, to sustainable climate-positive ESS provisioning. However, how plant communities should best be designed to reach these objectives, and how specific green roof systems vary in their capacity to support these functions is not well understood. Here we compiled data on plant traits and plant–insect interaction networks of a regional calcareous grassland species pool to explore how designed plant communities could be optimised to contribute to ecological functionality for predefined green roof solutions. Five distinct systems with practical functionality and physical constraints were designed, plant communities modelled using object-based optimization algorithms and evaluated using five ecological functionality metrics (incl. phylogenetic and structural diversity). Our system plant communities supported a range of plant–insect interactions on green roofs, but not all species were equally beneficial, resulting in wide-ranging essentiality and redundancy in ecological processes. Floral traits were not predictive of pollinator preferences, but phylogeny was observed to govern the preferences. Large differences in ecological functionality can be expected between green roofs depending on system design and the extent of the plant community composition. Multifunctionality covariance diverged between systems, suggesting that ecological functionality is not inherently universal but dependent on structural limitations and species pool interactions. We conclude that informed system design has a potential to simultaneously support ecosystem services and urban biodiversity conservation by optimising green roof plant communities to provide landscape resources for pollinating insects and herbivores.
... The combination of floral scent and colour creates a multifaceted signal that helps butterflies identify suitable nectar sources (Chen et al., 2014;Woodcock et al., 2014;Yoshida et al., 2015;Reverté et al., 2016;Kantsa et al., 2017). During the flowering season, butterfly species often exhibit flower specificity, selectively choosing to feed from a limited number of plant species (Boggs, 1987;Junker and Parachnowitsch, 2015;Paul et al., 2022;Zariman et al., 2022). ...
Flower colour is a crucial factor influencing pollinator-plant interactions. Lantana camara L., a popular ornamental plant, attracts various butterfly species. The present study was conducted in Serampore, Hooghly, West Bengal, India, spanning a period of one year from June 2022 to May 2023. This study investigates the preferences of some butterfly species for flowers of a certain colour and the choice of Lantana camara flowers as nectar sources. L. camara is known for its vibrant and diverse colour variations, making it an ideal candidate for attracting various pollinators. Through field observations and controlled experiments, we aimed to identify if certain butterfly species exhibit distinct colour preferences when foraging on Lantana blooms. Our preliminary findings suggest that different butterfly species display varying degrees of colour selectivity, with some showing a preference for warm colour within the L. camara spectrum. These initial insights provide a foundation for further research into the intricate relationship between butterfly species and floral coloration. Understanding the nuanced preferences of butterflies for L. camara flowers can contribute to the development of targeted conservation and gardening practices aimed at supporting specific butterfly populations. This study offers a valuable starting point for future investigations into the broader implications of floral colour preferences in pollinator ecology.
... Floral signalling involves a combination of cues, including colour (Reverté et al., 2016), design (Petrikin & Wells, 1995), blemish (Goulson et al., 2007), size (Inouye, 1980;Portlas et al., 2018), shape (Lehrer et al., 1995) and scent (Junker et al., 2010;Waller et al., 1973). ...
Societal Impact Statement
Humans and honey bees have a long history of interaction to yield valued products and services. However, honey bees are under pressure from changes in vegetation, agricultural practices and climate change. We investigate if pasture legumes can be harnessed to support honey bees. We use a diverse set of species that originated from the Mediterranean and western Europe but are now developed as commercial cultivars for the southern Australian livestock industries. We find that pasture legumes show great promise as a means to support honey bees and suggest that further targeted research is warranted.
Summary
Globally, humans and honey bees (Apis mellifera) have a long history of interaction and this is now under pressure. In temperate southern Australia, exotic honey bees rely on an unstable native floral resource base, yet a diverse set of exotic pasture legume species are sown as staple rotational or permanent crops. We investigated if these pasture legumes could be strategically used to support honey bee populations for the apiary and horticulture industries in this region.
A literature review on temperate pasture legumes and honey bees was undertaken and integrated with data from an Australian industry case study. Comparisons were made to the widely‐grown red clover (Trifolium pratense) and white clover (T. repens).
We found that many southern Australian pasture legumes could provide significant floral resources as well as enhanced temporal and spatial stability for honey bees due to phenological variability and broad adaptation. Honey bees will likely recognise and be attracted to their flowers and other characteristics are comparable, or potentially superior, to red and white clover, such as floret number per inflorescence, floret length, nectar volume and sucrose‐dominance and pollen protein. The floral resource diversity from pasture legume mixes could aid honey bee health and support pollinator services for adjacent crops.
We conclude that the exotic pasture legumes of temperate Australia show promise for development as a sown floral resource for honey bees. Globally, further investigation is merited to maximise benefits from the integration of a diverse range of pasture legumes into agricultural landscapes.
... Different pollinator species have been found to have innate preferences for certain colours, which may condition their choice of flowers, but can be modulated by various factors such as associative learning with floral rewards or the presence of competing pollinators (Revert e et al. 2016). It has been reported that some bees display preferences for stimuli of a blue hue, but such preferences may be conditioned by colour aspects other than hue and can be easily overridden by associative learning (Giurfa et al. 1995;Dyer et al. 2016;Koethe et al. 2016). ...
Flower colour polymorphisms are uncommon but widespread among angiosperms and can be maintained by a variety of balancing selection mechanisms. Anemone palmata is mostly yellow‐flowered, but white‐flowered plants coexist in some populations.
We analysed the distribution of colour morphs of A. palmata across its range. We also characterised their colours and compared their vegetative and sexual reproductive traits, pollinator attention and fitness.
The range of A. palmata is limited to the Western Mediterranean, while white‐flowered plants are restricted to Portugal and SW Spain, where they occur at low proportions. Yellow flowers have a characteristic UV pattern, with a UV‐absorbing centre and UV‐reflecting periphery, which is absent in the white morph. Colour features of both morphs were highly delineated, making it easy for pollinators to distinguish them. Both morphs were protogynous, with the same duration of sexual stages, and the main floral traits related to pollinator attraction, apart from flower colour, were similar. Hymenoptera and Diptera were the main pollinators, showing preference for the yellow morph, clear partitioning of pollinator groups between the two colour morphs and a marked constancy to flower colour during foraging. Both morphs combined clonal propagation with sexual reproduction, but sexual reproductive potential was lower in white‐flowered plants. Finally, female fitness was higher in the yellow morph.
Pollinator partitioning and colour constancy could maintain this polymorphism, despite the lower visitation rate and fitness of white‐flowered plants, which could facilitate their clonal propagation.
... A. cerana also foraged on different colors of flowers. This finding is supported by Saiz et al. (2016) who found that a group of naive A. cerana showed slight preference to the yellow color and the other not. Although, several studies have described spontaneous color preferences in bees (Lunau 2005;Giurfa et al. 1995;). ...
The flower shape, size and color preferences of four bee species belonging to the family Apidae was observed. The observed species were Apis cerana Fabricius, Apis dorsata Fabricius, Apis florea Fabricius, and Xylocopa aestuans Linnaeus. The bees were observed and collected from two areas of Dhaka city- Curzon Hall and Ramna Park from February 2022 to December 2022. During the study period it was observed that the abundance of A. florea was the highest (about 35.18% of the total population) and X. aestuans was the least (about 10.26% of the total population). Preference over a particular size was an important attribute among pollinators. Flowers with mean diameter greater than 50 mm (Dahlia sp., Couroupita guianensis, Tagetes sp. Calendula officinalis, Mesua ferrea) were more visited by the pollinators. Flowers of different shapes were examined in the study and pollinators showed different preferences for different shaped flower. A. cerana mostly preferred rounded and rotate shaped flowers (Dahlia sp. 45% and C. sulphureus 41.16%). A.florea had a preference towards the star shaped flower (L.indica, 69.39%) followed by globe shaped flower (Tagetes sp., 50.70%). A. dorsata had a choice over trumpet shaped flower (Tecoma stans, 35.5%), followed by rounded shaped flower (Dahlia sp. 22%). X. aestuans had preferred orchid shaped flower the most (Bauhinia sp., 30.45%) followed by cruciate shaped flower (M. ferrea, 22.91%). Preference for any particular color was also examined in the study. Among them, A. cerana preferred the red color most (about 45% relative abundance in Dahlia sp.) followed by the color orange (about 41.16% relative abundance in C. sulphureus). A. dorsata preferred the yellow color the most (35.5% relative abundance in T. stans) followed by the color red (22% in Dahlia sp.). A. florea had a preference for color pink (69.39% in L. indica and 46.45% in C. guianensis) followed by the color orange (Tagetes sp., 51.61%). X. aestuans preferred the purple color most in the study (30.45% in Bauhinia sp.). The correlation between proboscis length of pollinators and different floral parameters of flowers were also investigated. The results showed that those parameters were not significantly correlated. Bangladesh J. Zool. 52(1): 27-37, 2024
... Historically, inflorescence color is known to influence pollinator attraction and is an important cue. Extensive contemporary work has evaluated the color preferences of pollinating insects (Burger et al. 2010;Reverté et al. 2016;Lunau and Maier 1995;Giurfa et al. 1995;Hempel de Ibarra et al. 2015;Chittka and Menzel 1992;Barragán-Fonseca et al. 2020). General trends have been reported for different pollinators and often these trends are attributed to the individual visual system. ...
Pollinators seek high quality nectar and pollen rewards critical for their growth and reproduction. Volatile emissions from inflorescences may signal plant health and floral resource quality to these flower-visiting insects. To understand the relationship between floral volatile emission and pollinator preference in a field setting, we conducted a replicated garden experiment consisting of 18 native perennial species from three different plant families with varying nutritional resource quality. We collected flower-visiting insects and floral volatile emissions over two field seasons, detecting over 60 volatile compounds and over 150 insect species. We collated trait data of visiting insects (bee or non-bee, body size, degree of sociality, nesting behavior, and whether the visitor was non-native) and evaluated interactions between these traits and volatile composition. Among the insect traits, bees and larger visitors had negative associations with sesquiterpenes, while in contrast visitors with complex nesting behaviors and social insects had positive associations. When comparing plant traits with bee traits, bee visitors had negative associations with purple inflorescences and larger insects and social insects both had positive associations with yellow inflorescences. We tested for direct associations between volatile class and insect taxa and found that sesquiterpenes had a strong positive relationship with hoverfly presence. This work demonstrates the complexity of floral volatiles as signals for pollinating insects and how floral scent composition allows individual compounds to act synergistically or antagonistically. These results can help us to better understand pollinator preferences and visitation patterns in the broad context of chemical ecology.
... Moreover, ray florets have evolved specialized color patterns that promote the reproductive fitness of the plants. In nature, color and UV patterns in petals have been shown to be crucial for pollinator preferences (Revert e et al., 2016). For example, Chrysanthemum (sl.) species exhibit white ray floret ligules that are different from the yellow disc florets. ...
Asteraceae represent one of the largest and most diverse families of plants. The evolutionary success of this family has largely been contributed to their unique inflorescences, capitula that mimic solitary flowers but are typically aggregates of multiple florets. Here, we summarize the recent molecular and genetic level studies that have promoted our understanding of the development and evolution of capitula. We focus on new results on patterning of the enlarged meristem resulting in the iconic phyllotactic arrangement of florets in Fibonacci numbers of spirals. We also summarize the current understanding of the genetic networks regulating the characteristic reproductive traits in the family such as floral dimorphism and differentiation of highly specialized floral organs. So far, developmental studies in Asteraceae are still limited to a very narrow selection of model species. Along with the recent advancements in genomics and phylogenomics, Asteraceae and its relatives provide an outstanding model clade for extended evo‐devo studies to exploit the morphological diversity and the underlying molecular networks and to translate this knowledge to the breeding of the key crops in the family.
