Pollination of Specklinia by nectar-feeding Drosophila: the first reported case of a deceptive syndrome employing aggregation pheromones in Orchidaceae.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

The first documented observation of pollination in Pleurothallidinae was that of Endrés, who noticed that the 'viscid sepals' of Specklinia endotrachys were visited by a 'small fly'. Chase would later identify the visiting flies as being members of the genus Drosophila. This study documents and describes how species of the S. endotrachys complex are pollinated by different Drosophila species.

Methods

Specimens of Specklinia and Drosophila were collected in the field in Costa Rica and preserved in the JBL and L herbaria. Flies were photographed, filmed and observed for several days during a 2-year period and were identified by a combination of non-invasive DNA barcoding and anatomical surveys. Tissue samples of the sepals, petals and labellum of Specklinia

SUBMITTER: Karremans AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4549958 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature