Experimental Florivory Influences Reproductive Success in the Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis).

ABSTRACT: Florivory is the consumption or damage of flowers by herbivorous animals. It can directly affect plant fitness by damaging reproductive organs or indirectly by negatively influencing flower attractiveness to pollinators. We investigated florivory in field bindweed Convolvulus arvensis L. (Convolvulaceae) by combining data from natural surveys, experimental damage, and laboratory experiments on flower preferences of florivores. Surveys showed that flowers suffer damage from predators, including Leptophyes albovittata Kollar (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), which causes partial corolla damage, and from unknown predators that cause holes in the corolla. Experimentally damaged flowers had significantly lower reproductive success (number of seeds and proportion of total reproductive f

SUBMITTER: Prokop P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12844798 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature