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://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/adaptations-for-insecttrapping-in-broodsite-pollinated-colocasia-araceae(ca4e70c6-2c17-4d94-8d5d-d08883f2ecc9).html