|
|
The effect of experience and floral traits on preferences and flower constancy in Eristalis tenax
Haveldová, Alice ; Janovský, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Mikát, Michael (referee)
Intraspecific pollen transfer is crucial for ensuring successful pollination and subsequent reproduction of many plant species. Mechanisms directly influenced by plants, that can increase the proportion of intraspecific pollen through their flower form (individual floral traits) are preferences and constancy of pollinators. The proportion of intraspecific pollen transfer increases with higher preferences or constancy of the pollinator. Pollinator preferences and constancy tend to change over its lifetime based on experience with the flowers they have visited. Very few studies have examined the effect of experience on preferences and especially constancy in relation to multiple floral traits in hoverflies (Syrphidae, Diptera), which are an important pollinator group. In this study, I investigated the degree of preference and constancy of common drone fly Eristalis tenax L (Syrphidae) as a function of two floral traits, colour and size, and as a function of experience. I did so by monitoring visits and flights in arrays of artificial flowers. The hoverflies were of two origins: naïve (reared under laboratory conditions, with no previous experience of visiting flowers) and experienced (captured in the wild with previous experience). Naïve individuals made decisions primarily based on colour, with size...
|
|
|
Evolutionary significance of visual traits of flowers and their influence on the pollinator constancy
Haveldová, Alice ; Štenc, Jakub (advisor) ; Klečka, Jan (referee)
Flower constancy is a behavior in which the pollinator visits flowers of the same plant species in a sequence more than would correspond to its preference for the given plant. This behavior is advantageous for plants because it can ensure efficient intraspecific pollen transfer which has a positive effect on their biological fitness. More efficient pollen transfer can lead to the selection of (visual and olfactory) flower traits that encourage flower constancy of pollinators. The main visual floral traits that affect constancy include colour, pattern, shape and size. However, these traits are of different importance for pollinators when they are deciding which flower to visit, and therefore their effect on flower constancy varies. The degree of flower constancy also differs between the functional groups of pollinators. Flower constancy is generally low in vertebrates, but insects and especially representatives of the order Hymenoptera are often flower constant.
|
guest ::
