Adaptations for insect-trapping in brood-site pollinated Colocasia (Araceae)

Autor(en)
David Bröderbauer, Silvia Ulrich, Anton Weber
Abstrakt

The Araceae include both taxa with rewarding and deceptive trap pollination systems. Here we report on a genus in which rewarding and imprisonment of the pollinators co-occur. We studied the pollination of four species of Colocasia in Southwest China and investigated the morpho-anatomical adaptations of the spathe related to the attraction and capture of pollinators. All four species were pollinated by drosophilid flies of the genus Colocasiomyia. The flies are temporally arrested within the inflorescence and departure is only possible after pollen release. Trapping of the flies is accomplished by the closure of the spathe during anthesis. Moreover, in two species the spathe is covered with papillate epidermal cells known to form slippery surfaces in deceptive traps of Araceae. However, in Colocasia the papillae proved not slippery for the flies. The morpho-anatomical properties of the spathe epidermis indicate that it is an elaborate osmophore and serves for the emission of odours only. Despite its similarity to deceptive traps of other aroids, Colocasia and Colocasiomyia have a close symbiotic relationship, as the attracted flies use the inflorescence as a site for mating and breeding. The trap mechanism has presumably evolved independently in Colocasia and is supposed to facilitate more efficient pollen export.

Organisation(en)
Journal
Plant Biology
Band
16
Seiten
659-668
Anzahl der Seiten
10
ISSN
1435-8603
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12081
Publikationsdatum
09-2013
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
106049 Ultrastrukturforschung, 106008 Botanik, 106029 Pflanzenmorphologie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Plant Science
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/adaptations-for-insecttrapping-in-broodsite-pollinated-colocasia-araceae(ca4e70c6-2c17-4d94-8d5d-d08883f2ecc9).html