Ants Contribute Significantly to the Pollination of a Biodiesel Plant,Jatropha curcas

Abstract

Ants are the most abundant visitors to the flowers of Jatropha curcas L., but it is not clear how much they contribute to the pollination of this plant. In this study, we observed floral visitor assemblage and foraging behavior of ants, measured pollen loads carried by ants and deposited on stigmas, and determined the contribution of ants to the female reproductive success of J. curcas through exclusion experiments. Ants were the most abundant pollinators, accounting for 71.03 and 78.17% of total visits at two study sites. Among different ant species, Tapinoma melanocephalum (F.) is always the most abundant and the only common ant species at two study sites, which might suggest its important role in the pollination of J. curcas. Pollen loads carried by ants were significantly different among different species at two study sites. Pollen loads carried by ants increased with increased body length. Although the flowers exposed only to the ants produced less fruit than those exposed only to the winged visitors, ants alone resulted in almost 60% fruit set. Thus, ants could play a major role in the pollination of J. curcas if winged insects are absent.

Contribution of Diurnal and Nocturnal Insects to the Pollination of Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) in Southwestern China

“…Our previous study found that fire ants frequently foraged B. napus flowers, possibly producing negative effects on flower-visiting insects, including the Chinese honey bee Apis cerana F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and the cabbage white butterfly Pieris rapae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). These flower-visiting insects usually play an important role in the reproduction of plants (Hickman 1974;Gómez et al 1996;Raju & Ezradanam 2002;de Vega et al 2009;Luo et al 2011Luo et al , 2012. Furthermore, fire ant workers foraged more frequently on plants when aphids were present, potentially leading to an increased problem for the pollinators.…”

Cantharidin world on islands: Species diversity of canthariphilous arthropods in the Izu–Ogasawara Arc

“…Ants also use cantharidin as a feeding deterrent in some species (Carrel & Eisner 1974), and they are an important pollinator in several plant species (Beattie 2006;de Vega et al 2014). In the three ant genera recorded in this study, Nylanderia are known as pollinators of the plants Petrosavia sakuraii (Petrosaviaceae) (Takahashi et al 1993), Balanophora tobiracola (Balanophoraceae) (Kawakita & Kato 2002) and Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) (Luo et al 2012). Monomorium are known as pollinators of the orchid Microtis parviflora (Orchidaceae) (Peakall & Beattie 1989) and Pristomyrmex are visitors to extrafloral nectaries of the plant Bletilla striata (Orchidaceae) (Sugiura 1995) and Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) (Sugiura 2010).…”

“…), Balanophora tobiracola (Balanophoraceae) (Kawakita & Kato ) and Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) (Luo et al. ). Monomorium are known as pollinators of the orchid Microtis parviflora (Orchidaceae) (Peakall & Beattie ) and Pristomyrmex are visitors to extrafloral nectaries of the plant Bletilla striata (Orchidaceae) (Sugiura ) and Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) (Sugiura ).…”

Pollination Services of Mango Flower Pollinators

“…This ant also pollinates Mediterranean shrubs Retama sphaerocarpa, Frankenia thymifolia ( Gomez et al. 1996 ), Jatropha curcas ( Luo et al. 2012 ), and plants in the family Euphorbiaceae ( Reddi and Reddi 1984 , Schurch et al.…”

“…The lack of bristle on its smooth integument makes it unsuitable to carry mango pollen ( Corlett 2004 ). However, Iridomyrmex anceps was reported by Luo et al. (2012) to be a pollinator of J .…”