Nocturnal vs. Diurnal Pollination of Self-Fertile Peaches and Muscadine Grapes

Robertson, Stephen M.; Joshi, Neelendra K.; Dowling, Ashley P. G.

doi:10.1653/024.103.0225

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Both I. plena and Wiseana carried pollen tracker on all anatomical body parts after visiting L. scoparium and the proboscis of I. plena had pollen tracker on it in every instance which aligns with previous studies. Pollen tracker was also often located on ventral parts of moth bodies for both species in our study, as has been documented for other Lepidoptera species (More et al 2006;Atwater 2013;Weller et al 2017;Funamoto 2019;Robertson et al 2020). Pollen deposition from the ventral side of moth bodies (sternotribic pollination) may also contribute to the pollination of openaccess flowers such as L. scoparium and P. prostrata.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Thus, quantifying the transfer of pollen is important when determining the effectiveness of a floral visitor. To date, studies on pollination systems in New Zealand have predominantly focused on birds and diurnal insects leaving the role of moths largely unexplored, likely due to the difficulty of conducting surveys at night (Newstrom & Robertson 2005;MacGregor et al 2014;Robertson et al 2020). While pollen adhering to moth bodies offers some of the strongest evidence of flower visitation, there is very little information available describing moth pollination and the way in which moths transfer pollen, making this a critically understudied area of research in New Zealand and globally (Buxton et al 2018;van Zandt et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moths can transfer pollen between flowers under experimental conditions

Buxton¹,

Anderson²,

Lord³

2022

NZJE

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To be considered an effective pollinator, a floral visitor must not only be able to remove pollen but also transfer this pollen to a receptive conspecific stigma. While studies of diurnal pollination are commonplace, our understanding of the effectiveness of nocturnal pollinators is limited largely because of the difficulties of doing these studies at night. As a result of this, the way in which moths transfer pollen between flowers has been understudied globally, despite many authors suggesting they could be significant contributors to pollination. Here, we tested whether moths are capable of transferring pollen between flowers under experimental conditions using a fluorescent pollen-tracker powder. A flower-feeding taxon (Noctuidae: Ichneutica plena) and non-feeding taxon (Hepialidae: Wiseana spp.) were contained overnight with flowering shoots of putatively moth-pollinated Leptospermum scoparium and Pimelea prostrata (I. plena only), and putatively bird-pollinated Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora. Moths were able to transfer pollen tracker between flowers for both of the putatively mothpollinated species, while no pollen tracker was removed from putatively bird-pollinated flowers. Both the feeding and non-feeding moth taxa were able to transfer pollen tracker between flowers; however, the feeding taxon could be considered a more effective pollinator because of the greater proportion of individuals both carrying and transferring pollen tracker compared with the non-feeding taxon. This study provides experimental evidence that moths may contribute to the pollination of L. scoparium and P. prostrata, and suggests a reassessment of the pollination ecology for these species is warranted.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moths can transfer pollen between flowers under experimental conditions

Buxton¹,

Anderson²,

Lord³

2022

NZJE

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“…Two noctuid species, Mythimna unipuncta and Peridroma saucia , appeared to be the most likely candidates for nocturnal apple pollination, being among the most captured species and the most observed floral visitors of apple flowers. These two species and several other captured noctuids, namely Agrotis ipsilon Hufnagel, Elaphria grata Hübner, Galgula partita Guenée, Helicoverpa zea Boddie, and Megalographa biloba Stephens, have been recognized as potential pollinators in other systems (Wiggam and Ferguson 2005, LeCroy et al 2013, Robertson et al 2020, Ribas-Marquès et al 2022). In fact, noctuids have increasingly received attention for their role as pollinators (Hahn and Brühl 2016, Van Zandt et al 2020, He et al 2022, Singh et al 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moth community among apples during bloom in Northwest Arkansas: likely pollinators and activity periods

Robertson

2023

Journal of Economic Entomology

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Apples are a fruit crop of economic and nutritional importance that require cross-pollination primarily by insects for sustainable production. It was recently demonstrated that nocturnal pollinators can contribute as much to apple pollination as diurnal pollinators. However, information concerning nocturnal pollinator identity, activity periods, and community composition in apples is lacking, which limits research expansion. To address this knowledge gap, nocturnal moths in an apple orchard were surveyed during apple bloom from 2018 to 2020 using blacklight traps, with samples collected hourly to delineate moth activity. Observations during the same periods were made to identify moths visiting apple flowers, whose capture data were then compared to other captured moth species to provide useful information concerning community composition during apple bloom. Blacklight surveys yielded 1,087 moths representing at least 68 species from 12 families, wherein 15 species from five families were observed visiting apple flowers. Captured moths were most abundant and diverse in the first two hours after sunset. Most captured moth species did not visit flowers and are likely not associated with apple pollination. However, moth species that were observed visiting flowers were the most abundant overall and most diverse by hour in surveys. Data indicate a rich moth community present among apple orchards during bloom and identify likely moth pollinators of apples. Though more research is required to establish the precise relationships between moth pollination and apples, the information provided here allows for targeted efforts to do so.

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Nocturnal Pollinators Significantly Contribute to Apple Production

Robertson

Dowling

Wiedenmann

et al. 2021

Journal of Economic Entomology

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Agricultural dependency on insect-mediated pollination is increasing at the same time that pollinator populations are experiencing declines in diversity and abundance. Current pollinator research in agriculture focuses largely on diurnal pollinators, yet the evidence for pollination by moths and other nocturnal pollinators is growing. Apples are one of the most valuable and important fruits produced globally, and apple production is dependent on insect-mediated cross-pollination to generate a profitable crop. We examined contributions to apple production provided by nocturnal insects via an exclusion experiment. We compared the relative contributions to apple production provided by nocturnal and diurnal pollinators using fruit set, the likelihood of cluster pollination, and seed set. We found nocturnal pollinators capable of facilitating the production of as many apples at similar levels of pollination as diurnal pollinators. We further found evidence that nocturnal and diurnal pollinators pollinate synergistically, with pollination contributions being additive in one year of our study. Our research identifies significant contributions to apple production provided by nocturnal pollinators, which may interact with diurnal pollinators in ways that are currently unrecognized. Expansions of this research into additional pollinator-dependent crops and focused investigations on specific nocturnal insects will provide more accurate assessments of nocturnal-pollinator roles in agriculture and improve our overall understanding of pollination in agriculture.

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Nocturnal vs. Diurnal Pollination of Self-Fertile Peaches and Muscadine Grapes

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 4 publications

References 33 publications

Moths can transfer pollen between flowers under experimental conditions

Moths can transfer pollen between flowers under experimental conditions

Moth community among apples during bloom in Northwest Arkansas: likely pollinators and activity periods

Nocturnal Pollinators Significantly Contribute to Apple Production

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