Do flower color and floral scent of silene species affect host preference of Hadena bicruris, a seed-eating pollinator, under field conditions?

ABSTRACT: Specialization in plant-insect interactions is an important driver of evolutionary divergence; yet, plant traits mediating such interactions are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated how flower color and floral scent are related to seed predation by a seed-eating pollinator. We used field-transplanted recombinant F2 hybrids between Silene latifolia and S. dioica that are the preferred and alternative hosts of the moth Hadena bicruris and crosses within these species for comparison. We scored seed predation and flower color and analyzed floral scent. Pinker S. dioica-like flowers and emission of α-pinene decreased the odds of seed predation while emission of benzyl acetate and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one increased the odds of seed predation. Emission of these compounds did not diffe

SUBMITTER: Page P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4048206 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature