Chemical Attraction of Gall Midge Pollinators (Cecidomyiidae: Cecidomyiinae) to Anthurium acutangulum (Araceae)

Autor(en)
Florian Etl, Wittko Francke, Jürg Schönenberger, Stefan Dötterl
Abstrakt

Flowering plants often use chemical signals to attract their pollinators, and compounds that elicit attraction are known for several groups of pollinators. For other pollinators such as gall midges, however, compounds responsible for their attraction to flowers are largely unknown. Here, we describe the pollination biology of Anthurium acutangulum, a Neotropical aroid species found to be attractive to gall midges. We collected and analyzed its floral scent by dynamic headspace collections and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and identified compounds responsible for pollinator attraction. The inflorescences were almost exclusively visited by gall midges (females; Cecidomyiidae: Cecidomyiinae) and released a strong scent reminiscent of freshly cut cucumber, mainly (5S,7S)-trans-conophthorin, (E2,Z6)-2,6-nonadienal, and cis-conophthorin. Behavioral assays with the two most abundant compounds identified (E2,Z6)-2,6-nonadienal as being highly attractive to the female gall midge pollinators, whereas (5S,7S)-trans-conophthorin was not attractive. Overall, we introduce a new specialized gall midge pollination system and identify the chemical mediating communication between the pollinators and their host plants.

Organisation(en)
Department für Botanik und Biodiversitätsforschung
Externe Organisation(en)
Universität Hamburg, Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg
Journal
Journal of Chemical Ecology
Band
48
Seiten
263-269
Anzahl der Seiten
7
ISSN
1573-1561
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-022-01349-3
Publikationsdatum
03-2022
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
106008 Botanik, 106012 Evolutionsforschung, 106042 Systematische Botanik
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Biochemistry
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/chemical-attraction-of-gall-midge-pollinators-cecidomyiidae-cecidomyiinae-to-anthurium-acutangulum-araceae(00e0faad-ec01-4012-8331-7102953d244d).html