The long-tongued hawkmoth pollinator niche for native and invasive plants in Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Unrelated organisms that share similar niches often exhibit patterns of convergent evolution in functional traits. Based on bimodal distributions of hawkmoth tongue lengths and tubular white flowers in Africa, this study hypothesized that long-tongued hawkmoths comprise a pollination niche (ecological opportunity) that is distinct from that of shorter-tongued hawkmoths.

Methods

Field observations, light trapping, camera surveillance and pollen load analysis were used to identify pollinators of plant species with very long-tubed (>8 cm) flowers. The nectar properties and spectral reflectance of these flowers were also measured. The frequency distributions of proboscis length for all captured hawkmoths and floral tube length for a representative sample of n

SUBMITTER: Johnson SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4701141 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature