Nectar thieves or invited pollinators? A case study of tansy flowers and common house mosquitoes

Peach, Daniel A H; Gries, Gerhard

doi:10.1007/s11829-016-9445-9

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 48 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nectar feeding is one such aspect of mosquito sensory biology that has received comparatively less attention, despite being an excellent system in which to probe the neural bases of behavior (6). For instance, nectar and sugar feeding is critically important for both male and female mosquitoes, serving to increase their lifespan, survival rate, and reproduction, and for males, it is required for survival (6, 7).Mosquitoes are attracted to, and feed on, a variety of plant nectar sources, including those from flowers (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Although most examples of mosquito-plant interactions have shown that mosquitoes contribute little in reproductive services to the plant (13), there are examples of mosquitoes being potential pollinators (9, 10, 14-17).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mosquitoes are attracted to, and feed on, a variety of plant nectar sources, including those from flowers (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Although most examples of mosquito-plant interactions have shown that mosquitoes contribute little in reproductive services to the plant (13), there are examples of mosquitoes being potential pollinators (9,10,(14)(15)(16)(17). However, few studies have identified the floral cues that serve to attract and mediate these decisions by the mosquitoes and how these behaviors influence pollination.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The olfactory basis of orchid pollination by mosquitoes

Lahondère

Vinauger

Okubo

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mosquitoes are important vectors of disease and require sources of carbohydrates for reproduction and survival. Unlike host-related behaviors of mosquitoes, comparatively less is understood about the mechanisms involved in nectar-feeding decisions, or how this sensory information is processed in the mosquito brain. Here we show that Aedes spp. mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti, are effective pollinators of the Platanthera obtusata orchid, and demonstrate this mutualism is mediated by the orchid's scent and the balance of excitation and inhibition in the mosquito's antennal lobe (AL). The P. obtusata orchid emits an attractive, nonanal-rich scent, whereas related Platanthera species-not visited by mosquitoesemit scents dominated by lilac aldehyde. Calcium imaging experiments in the mosquito AL revealed that nonanal and lilac aldehyde each respectively activate the LC2 and AM2 glomerulus, and remarkably, the AM2 glomerulus is also sensitive to N,N-diethylmeta-toluamide (DEET), a mosquito repellent. Lateral inhibition between these 2 glomeruli reflects the level of attraction to the orchid scents. Whereas the enriched nonanal scent of P. obtusata activates the LC2 and suppresses AM2, the high level of lilac aldehyde in the other orchid scents inverts this pattern of glomerular activity, and behavioral attraction is lost. These results demonstrate the ecological importance of mosquitoes beyond operating as disease vectors and open the door toward understanding the neural basis of mosquito nectar-seeking behaviors.Platanthera | mosquitoes | Aedes aegypti | olfaction | nectar M osquitoes are important vectors of disease, such as dengue, malaria, or Zika, and are considered one of the deadliest animal on earth (1); for this reason, research has largely focused on mosquito-host interactions, and in particular, the mosquito's sensory responses to those hosts (2-5). Nectar feeding is one such aspect of mosquito sensory biology that has received comparatively less attention, despite being an excellent system in which to probe the neural bases of behavior (6). For instance, nectar and sugar feeding is critically important for both male and female mosquitoes, serving to increase their lifespan, survival rate, and reproduction, and for males, it is required for survival (6, 7).Mosquitoes are attracted to, and feed on, a variety of plant nectar sources, including those from flowers (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Although most examples of mosquito-plant interactions have shown that mosquitoes contribute little in reproductive services to the plant (13), there are examples of mosquitoes being potential pollinators (9, 10, 14-17). However, few studies have identified the floral cues that serve to attract and mediate these decisions by the mosquitoes and how these behaviors influence pollination.The association between the Platanthera obtusata orchid and Aedes mosquitoes is one of the few examples that shows mosquitoes as effective pollinators (14-17) and thus provides investigators a unique opportunity to identify the sensory mechanisms th...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The olfactory basis of orchid pollination by mosquitoes

Lahondère

Vinauger

Okubo

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

111

102

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Floral nectar is the dominant source of plant sugar for most mosquitoes but other sugar sources such as extra-floral nectar, aphid honeydew, and fruit juices are also consumed [21,24]. Inflorescence semiochemicals [25] along with visual inflorescence displays [26] and CO2 [27] attract mosquitoes to various inflorescences [21,[27][28][29] that they discern [30,31] and may pollinate [32][33][34][35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Working with the common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, and one of its mosquito pollinators, the common house mosquito, Culex pipiens [35], we tested the hypotheses (H) that: (1) nectar-colonizing microbes emit semiochemicals attractive to Cx. pipiens; (2) the attractiveness of these microbes is dependent upon their nutrient source; and (3) multiple species of nectar-colonizing microbes attract more mosquitoes than a single species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator,Culex pipiensL

Peach

Carroll

Meraj

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: There is widespread interkingdom signalling between insects and microbes. For example, microbes found in floral nectar may modify its nutritional composition and produce odorants that alter the floral odor bouquet which may attract insect pollinators. Mosquitoes consume nectar and can pollinate flowers. We identified microbes isolated from nectar of common tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, elucidated the microbial odorants, and tested their ability to attract the common house mosquito, Culex pipiens. Results: We collected 18 microbial isolates from T. vulgare nectar, representing at least 12 different taxa which we identified with 16S or 26S rDNA sequencing as well as by biochemical and physiological tests. Three microorganisms (Lachancea thermotolerans, Micrococcus lactis, Micrococcus luteus) were grown on culture medium and tested in bioassays. Only the yeast L. thermotolerans grown on nectar, malt extract agar, or in synthetic nectar broth significantly attracted C. pipiens females. The odorant profile produced by L. thermotolerans varied with the nutritional composition of the culture medium. Surprisingly, all three microbes grown separately, but presented concurrently, attracted fewer C. pipiens females than L. thermotolerans by itself. Conclusions: Floral nectar of T. vulgare contains various microbes whose odorants contribute to the odor profile of inflorescences. In addition, L. thermotolerans produced odorants that attract Cx. pipiens females. As the odor profile of L. thermotolerans varied with the composition of the culture medium, we hypothesize that microbe odorants inform nectar-foraging mosquitoes about the availability of certain macro-nutrients which, in turn, affect foraging decisions by mosquitoes.

show abstract

Specific phytochemicals in floral nectar up‐regulate genes involved in longevity regulation and xenobiotic metabolism, extending mosquito life span

Njoroge

Calla

Berenbaum

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Flowering plants secrete both floral and extra-floral nectars, which play important ecological roles as attractants and food rewards for mutualists. Floral nectar is produced inside the flower while extrafloral nectar is secreted by other vegetative parts of the plant and is commonly involved in indirect defense against herbivores (Nepi et al., 2018). Floral nectar is the principal reward for animals in

show abstract

Nectar thieves or invited pollinators? A case study of tansy flowers and common house mosquitoes

Cited by 37 publications

References 48 publications

The olfactory basis of orchid pollination by mosquitoes

The olfactory basis of orchid pollination by mosquitoes

Nectar-dwelling microbes of common tansy are attractive to its mosquito pollinator,Culex pipiensL

Specific phytochemicals in floral nectar up‐regulate genes involved in longevity regulation and xenobiotic metabolism, extending mosquito life span

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About