Honey bee handling behaviour on the papilionate flower of Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Giovanetti, Manuela; Aronne, Giovanna

doi:10.1007/s11829-012-9227-y

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…), emit olfactory attractants (Dötterl & Jürgen ; Balao et al . ) and act as a landing foothold or platform for pollinators (Kampny ; Giovanetti & Aronne ). For example morphologically specialised petals such as the lips in Orchidaceae (Benitez‐Vieyra et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional significance of petals as landing sites in fungus‐gnat pollinated flowers of Mitella pauciflora (Saxifragaceae)

2017

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Summary Despite the well‐known visual attraction function of angiosperm petals, additional roles of these floral organs (e.g. the provision of landing‐site platforms for pollinators) have rarely been examined. This is likely because most petals perform multiple functions, making it difficult to isolate the importance of landing sites in pollination success. We investigated the landing‐site function of dull‐coloured pinnately branched petals in Mitella pauciflora flowers, which are predominantly pollinated by fungus gnats. We conducted a field experiment, in which the effects of experimental petal removal on pollinators’ approach, landing and visit duration and floral reproductive success were examined in naturally pollinated flowers. According to direct and time‐lapse camera observations, petal removal did not influence pollinators’ approach frequency or visit duration, but did significantly decrease their landings. Fruit set and pollen dispatch both significantly decreased with petal removal, indicating that petals promote female and male reproductive success in M. pauciflora by facilitating pollinator landing. This demonstrates that inconspicuous petals primarily have a landing‐site function rather than a visual attraction function in M. pauciflora. Discriminating between diverse petal functions is a challenging problem, and new approaches are required to elucidate the functional features of angiosperm flowers. A http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12842/suppinfo is available for this article.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional significance of petals as landing sites in fungus‐gnat pollinated flowers of Mitella pauciflora (Saxifragaceae)

2017

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“…Even if the honeybee can nowadays be considered a (frequent, good) pollinator of acacias, it may not be the evolutionarily chosen or even the most effective pollination mode. The honeybee can count on its behavioural plasticity to overcome handling inconveniences, including those associated with anemophilous species that lack a suitable landing surface (Giovanetti and Aronne, 2011). We then may expect the ubiquitous honeybee to be recorded on such inflorescences, as it was the case in the A. longifolia home range (Bernhardt, 1987), or on other acacias in invaded areas (Giovanetti et al, 2014(Giovanetti et al, , 2015Giuliani et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, pollen abundance turns them into unforeseen showy displays, incidentally attracting the bees when flowering occurs in coincidence with their foraging activity (Aronne et al, 2012). Pollen is a compelling resource for bees, and they can count on plasticity of behaviours to overcome handling inconvenience of anemophilous flowers (Giovanetti and Aronne, 2011). This may translate into misinterpretations after recording bee presence on flowers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why so many flowers? A preliminary assessment of mixed pollination strategy enhancing sexual reproduction of the invasive <i>Acacia longifolia</i> in Portugal

Giovanetti¹,

Ramos²,

Máguas³

2018

Web Ecol.

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Abstract. Acacia longifolia, a native legume from Australia, has been introduced in many European countries and elsewhere, thus becoming one of the most important global invasive species. In Europe, its flowering occurs in a period unsuitable for insect activity: nonetheless it is considered entomophilous. Floral traits of this species are puzzling: brightly coloured and scented as liked by insects, but with abundant staminate small-sized flowers and relatively small pollen grains, as it is common in anemophilous species. Invasion processes are especially favoured when reshaping local ecological networks, thus the interest in understanding pollination syndromes associated with invasive plant species that may facilitate invasiveness. Moreover, a striking difference exists between its massive flowering and relatively poor seed set. We introduced a novel approach: first, we consider the possibility that a part of the pollination success is carried on by wind and, second, we weighted the ethological perspective of the main pollinator. During the flowering season of A. longifolia (February-April 2016), we carried on exclusion experiments to detect the relative contribution of insects and wind. While the exclusion experiments corroborated the need for pollen vectors, we actually recorded a low abundance of insects. The honeybee, known pollinator of acacias, was relatively rare and not always productive in terms of successful visits. While wind contributed to seed set, focal observations confirmed that honeybees transfer pollen when visiting both the inflorescences to collect pollen and the extrafloral nectaries to collect nectar. The mixed pollination strategy of A. longifolia may then be the basis of its success in invading Portugal's windy coasts.

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“…There are relatively few studies investigating foraging adaptations by native pollinators to invaders. Sensitivity to resource availability, especially when shown by the ubiquitous honey bee, represents a useful starting point to investigate the way by which novel and abundant food sources are discriminated and exploited (Giovanetti and Aronne 2013). Acacia pycnantha is an alien invasive species utilising conspicuous flowering to attract insects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploitation of the invasive Acacia pycnantha pollen and nectar resources by the native bee Apis mellifera

Giovanetti

Lippi

Foggi

et al. 2015

Ecological Research

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The importance of broad ecological perspectives has been well recognised with regard to the spread of alien species. However, less attention has been paid to single plant‐animal relationships such as the mechanism through which interactions with pollinators take place, which is responsible for the evolution of new mutualistic relationships and the outcome of sexual reproduction and distribution of plants. Because the majority of plant‐pollinator relationships are based on food collection by pollinators, we investigated the extent of exploitation of Acacia pycnantha by Apis mellifera. A. pycnantha is native to Australia, but is invasive in many Mediterranean countries, including Italy. We investigated whether visits by the native pollinator A. mellifera to a non‐native food source (A. pycnantha) were occasional, or dictated by a precise pattern matching resource availability. Showing that a native pollinator's foraging strategy has readily adapted to a potential resource offered by an invasive plant allows us to understand better the mechanisms promoting invasiveness of alien angiosperms. We collected data on pollen and nectar characteristics and variation in their availability, and conducted behavioural observations of foraging honey bees. Acacia pycnantha flower heads and extrafloral nectaries are sources of food actively selected by honey bees, which display behaviours strongly associated with resource availability. Our results showed clear evidence of a strong invasive plant‐native pollinator relationship, enhancing the success of sexual reproduction of the alien species. Future studies may highlight to which extent this relationship has influenced the spread of this invasive plant.

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Honey bee handling behaviour on the papilionate flower of Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Functional significance of petals as landing sites in fungus‐gnat pollinated flowers of Mitella pauciflora (Saxifragaceae)

Functional significance of petals as landing sites in fungus‐gnat pollinated flowers of Mitella pauciflora (Saxifragaceae)

Why so many flowers? A preliminary assessment of mixed pollination strategy enhancing sexual reproduction of the invasive <i>Acacia longifolia</i> in Portugal

Exploitation of the invasive Acacia pycnantha pollen and nectar resources by the native bee Apis mellifera

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Honey bee handling behaviour on the papilionate flower of Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Functional significance of petals as landing sites in fungus‐gnat pollinated flowers of Mitella pauciflora (Saxifragaceae)

Functional significance of petals as landing sites in fungus‐gnat pollinated flowers of Mitella pauciflora (Saxifragaceae)

Why so many flowers? A preliminary assessment of mixed pollination strategy enhancing sexual reproduction of the invasive &lt;i&gt;Acacia longifolia&lt;/i&gt; in Portugal

Exploitation of the invasive Acacia pycnantha pollen and nectar resources by the native bee Apis mellifera

Contact Info

Product

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Why so many flowers? A preliminary assessment of mixed pollination strategy enhancing sexual reproduction of the invasive <i>Acacia longifolia</i> in Portugal