Identification and field testing of floral odorants that attract the rove beetle Pelecomalium testaceum (Mannerheim) to skunk cabbage, Lysichiton americanus (L.)

A Review on the Pollination of Aroids with Bisexual Flowers

“…In our opinion, the great variability of spathe and spadix shapes and colors reflects the many different pollinators that, for the most part, have not yet been studied. In many species, the spathe is conspicuously colored, or additionally emits scents, probably playing a role as visual and olfactory attractant (Pellmyr & Patt, 1986;Kevan, 1989;Kraemer & Schmitt, 1999;Zhu & Croat, 2004;Brodie et al, 2018). Spathe shape might be of importance for attraction as well.…”

“…Beetle pollination in aroids with bisexual flowers has been reported for Anthurium, Calla, Lysichiton, Monstera, and Symplocarpus (Pellmyr & Patt, 1986;Uemura et al, 1993;Willson & Hennon, 1997;Chouteau et al, 2007;Franz, 2007;Brousil et al, 2015;Chartier et al, 2017;Prieto & Cascante-Marín, 2017;Brodie et al, 2018). The plants whose inflorescences produce floral chambers offer shelter, heat, a mating site, and food as rewards and are pollinated by Staphylinidae (rove beetles) and Nitidulidae (sap beetles) (Uemura et al, 1993;Chouteau et al, 2007;Prieto & Cascante-Marín, 2017).…”

“…Neither species of Lysichiton are thermogenic (Ito-Inaba et al, 2009a;Brousil et al, 2015). The inflorescences (spadix and spathe) of L. americanus emit an unpleasant odor of carrion or feces from the first day of flowering, which gradually vanishes toward the end of anthesis (Pellmyr & Patt, 1986;Brodie et al, 2018). Among various floral scent compounds found, (E)-4nonene, (E)-5-undecene (lipid-derived compounds), and indole (nitrogen-containing compound) have proven to be the major attractants for the pollinators in electrophysiological and behavioral experiments (Brodie et al, 2018).…”

“…The plants whose inflorescences produce floral chambers offer shelter, heat, a mating site, and food as rewards and are pollinated by Staphylinidae (rove beetles) and Nitidulidae (sap beetles) (Uemura et al, 1993;Chouteau et al, 2007;Prieto & Cascante-Marín, 2017). Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles), Curculionidae (weevils), and also Nitidulidae and Staphylinidae have been reported as pollinators in some genera that have exposed inflorescences without a floral chamber and that are not thermogenic (Pellmyr & Patt, 1986;Willson & Hennon, 1997;Franz & Valente, 2005;Franz, 2007;Brousil et al, 2015;Chartier et al, 2017;Brodie et al, 2018). The pollinators predominantly visit these plants for courtship and to feed on pollen and floral tissues.…”

“…Interestingly, the two lipid-derived compounds are not signature odorants of carrion or feces. Instead, they are assumed to be a particular signal to the beetles for plant recognition related to the rewards (i.e., pollen and mating site) (Pellmyr & Patt, 1986;Brodie et al, 2018). Additionally, these beetles are also apparently attracted by the yellow spathe color (Pellmyr & Patt, 1986;Willson & Hennon, 1997;Brousil et al, 2015).…”