Floral colour change in Byrsonima variabilis (Malpighiaceae) as a visual cue for pollen but not oil foraging by oil-collecting bees

Melo, Brehna Teixeira de; Mota, Theo; Schlindwein, Clemens; Antonini, Yasmine; Oliveira, Reisla

doi:10.1007/s00114-018-1572-y

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…We observed that T. spinipes and A. mellifera preferred to visit orange and yellow flowers. Results for Byrsonima variabilis (Malpighiaceae) were similar to ours, in which large and small bees showed greater preference for orange and yellow flowers during the collection of floral resources (pollen and nectar) [ 24 ].…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 75%

“…They also prove that bees visit fewer red flowers due to their higher emissions (above 700 nm) and high chlorophyll fluorescence index in this band. Furthermore, our outcomes suggest that flower fluorescence pattern is an important signal in flower recognition by visiting bees [ 15 , 16 , 24 , 61 ]; therefore, our findings raise new possibilities in the perception of floral visitors since fluorescence was not considered important in attracting bees to different T. majus flowers.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Bees do not have a red-light receptor in the 700 nm band because their vision is restricted to short wavelengths between UV (300 nm) and orange (690 nm), while red and infrared (IR) are in a spectral range above 700 nm [ 36 ], explaining the low bee visits in these flowers. Thus, the green fluorescence color emitted by red T. majus flowers resembles green foliage dispersed in the environment, as leaves also present a chlorophyll compound with green fluorescence emission [ 19 , 24 , 56 ]; therefore, red corolla flowers were not in evidence, explaining the low bee visit abundances in orange-red, yellow-red, and especially red flowers, which had higher emissions. It is noteworthy that the odor exhaled by T. majus stamens attracts pollinators, serving as a cue to find these unattractive flowers [ 25 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Application of Optical Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Studying Bee Abundance in Tropaeolum majus L. (Tropaeolaceae)

Fioratti

Falcão

Silva

et al. 2022

Biology

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Tropaeolum majus L. species produce flowers with all sorts of colors, from yellow to red. This work aimed to apply optical fluorescence spectroscopy to study bee abundance in T. majus, answering the following questions: (1) do corolla temperature and weather conditions affect the abundance of visiting bee species? (2) do flower color and corolla fluorescence affect the abundance of visiting bee species? (3) do red flowers attract more visiting bees? (4) is there a relationship between bee visits and flower compounds? The bee species Apis mellifera, Paratrigona lineata, and Trigona spinipes were the most observed in T. majus flowers. The latter was more active in the morning and preferred orange and yellow flowers. These colors also had higher temperatures and fluorescence emissions than did the red ones and those with yellow-red and orange-red nectar guides. Orange flowers emitted a broadband UV spectrum (between 475 and 800 nm). This range might be due to compounds such as hydroxycinnamic acid, flavonols, isoflavonoids, flavones, phenolic acid, and chlorophyll. Extracts from different T. majus corolla colors showed that flowers emit specific fluorescent signals, mainly related to bee color vision and learning, thus acting as a means of communication between bees and flowers. In this way, this information evidences the interaction between bees and T. majus flowers, allowing conservation actions for pollinators.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Application of Optical Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Studying Bee Abundance in Tropaeolum majus L. (Tropaeolaceae)

Fioratti

Falcão

Silva

et al. 2022

Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In our experiment we chose stimuli that would be relatively difficult for bees to discriminate, to both be ecologically realistic (in natural foraging scenarios bees often need to discriminate between stimuli this similar in colour e.g. 89 ), and to maximize the chances that we would detect an effect on learning if it existed in this context. We also replicated the experiment across two different scenarios where the motivational value of the US changed, as well as the opportunity to learn.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A neonicotinoid pesticide impairs foraging, but not learning, in free-flying bumblebees

Muth

Leonard

2019

Sci Rep

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Neonicotinoids are widely-used pesticides implicated in the decline of bees, known to have sub-lethal effects on bees’ foraging and colony performance. One proposed mechanism for these negative effects is impairment to bees’ ability to learn floral associations. However, the effects of neonicotinoids on learning performance have largely been addressed using a single protocol, where immobilized bees learn an association based on a single sensory modality. We thus have an incomplete understanding of how these pesticides affect bee learning in more naturalistic foraging scenarios. We carried out the first free-foraging study into the effects of acute exposure of a neonicotinoid (imidacloprid) on bumblebees’ (Bombus impatiens) ability to learn associations with visual stimuli. We uncovered dose-dependent detrimental effects on motivation to initiate foraging, amount of nectar collected, and initiation of subsequent foraging bouts. However, we did not find any impairment to bees’ ability to learn visual associations. While not precluding the possibility that other forms of learning are impaired, our findings suggest that some of the major effects of acute neonicotinoid exposure on foraging performance may be due to motivational and/or sensory impairments. In light of these findings, we discuss more broadly how pesticide effects on pollinator cognition might be studied.

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“…Additionally, this floral UV category could be related with resource signalling, since yellow and UVabsorbing pollen and anthers (or mimics) trigger behavioural responses in bees and flies (Lunau et al, 2017 and references therein). Interestingly, oil-collecting bees are sensitive to floral visual changes (Ferreira and Torezan-Silingardi, 2013;Melo et al, 2018) and half of the Malpighiaceae species (mainly having oil as resource) show UV-absorbing reproductive structures (CR), a pattern usually associated with pollen-flowers (Lunau et al, 2017).…”

Section: Floral Uv Features and Plant-pollinator Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Floral UV Features of Plant Species From a Neotropical Savanna

2021

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Despite the wide interest in flower colours, only after the end of the nineteenth-century studies started to comprise floral UV reflection, which is invisible to humans but visible to the major groups of pollinators. Many flowers and inflorescences display colour patterns, an important signal for pollinators, promoted by the presence of at least two different colours within flowers or inflorescences, including colours in the UV waveband. For Neotropical savanna plant species, we characterised floral UV features using UV-photography and reflectance measurements. We tested (i) whether floral UV features were constrained by their shared ancestry, (ii) whether floral UV features were associated with pollinators, and (iii) whether floral UV features were associated with floral traits mediating these interactions, including floral resource, type of attraction unit and presence/absence of non-UV colour patterns. Of 80 plant species, ca. 70% were UV-patternless, most of them UV-absorbing. Approximately 30% presented one of three types of UV-patterns: bullseye, contrasting corolla markings oriented toward floral resources or contrasting reproductive structures, which were all considered as floral guides. Floral UV features were phylogenetically constrained and were associated with pollinators, floral resources and attraction unit, but not with non-UV colour patterns. UV-patternless flowers were associated with most of the pollination systems, while UV-patterned flowers were mainly associated with bee-pollination. UV-absorbing flowers comprised the only category with hawkmoth- and butterfly-pollinated flowers, and a high percentage of hummingbird-pollinated species. Nocturnal pollinated species were also commonly UV-absorbing, except for one UV-reflecting bat-pollinated species and one beetle-pollinated species with UV-reflecting stigmas. All types of floral UV features were associated with nectar; however, flowers with contrasting reproductive structures were mainly associated with pollen. There was an association between UV-absorbing species and the presence of inflorescences and intermediate attraction units. Our results evince that phylogenetic relatedness can constraint floral UV features’ diversification, but combinations of evolutionary and ecological processes may be expected in this scenario.

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Floral colour change in Byrsonima variabilis (Malpighiaceae) as a visual cue for pollen but not oil foraging by oil-collecting bees

Cited by 15 publications

References 63 publications

Application of Optical Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Studying Bee Abundance in Tropaeolum majus L. (Tropaeolaceae)

Application of Optical Fluorescence Spectroscopy for Studying Bee Abundance in Tropaeolum majus L. (Tropaeolaceae)

A neonicotinoid pesticide impairs foraging, but not learning, in free-flying bumblebees

Floral UV Features of Plant Species From a Neotropical Savanna

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