Hybrid floral scent novelty drives pollinator shift in sexually deceptive orchids.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sexually deceptive orchids of the genus Ophrys attract their pollinators, male insects, on a highly specific basis through the emission of odour blends that mimic the female sex pheromone of the targeted species. In this study, we have investigated a contact site between Ophrys arachnitiformis and O. lupercalis, two sympatric orchid species that are usually reproductively isolated via the exploitation of different pollinator "niches", but occasionally hybridise despite their apparent combination of ethological and mechanical isolation barriers. In particular, we have investigated the extent to which these Ophrys hybrids generate "emergent" combinations (i.e. novel and unpredictable from the parents' phenotypes) of floral traits, and how these phenotypic novelties, partic

SUBMITTER: Vereecken NJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2875231 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature