Field sampling of fig pollinator wasps across host species and host developmental phase: Implications for host recognition and specificity.

ABSTRACT: Previous genetic studies of pollinator wasps associated with a community of strangler figs (Ficus subgenus Urostigma, section Americana) in Central Panama suggest that the wasp species exhibit a range in host specificity across their host figs. To better understand factors that might contribute to this observed range of specificity, we used sticky traps to capture fig-pollinating wasp individuals at 13 Ficus species, sampling at different phases of the reproductive cycle of the host figs (e.g., trees with receptive inflorescences, or vegetative trees, bearing only leaves). We also sampled at other tree species, using them as non-Ficus controls. DNA barcoding allowed us to identify the wasps to species and therefore assign their presence and abundance to h

SUBMITTER: Oldenbeuving A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10495548 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature