The largest early-diverging angiosperm family is mostly pollinated by ovipositing insects and so are most surviving lineages of early angiosperms.

ABSTRACT: Insect pollination in basal angiosperms is assumed to mostly involve 'generalized' insects looking for food, but direct observations of ANITA grade (283 species) pollinators are sparse. We present new data for numerous Schisandraceae, the largest ANITA family, from fieldwork, nocturnal filming, electron microscopy, barcoding and molecular clocks to infer pollinator/plant interactions over multiple years at sites throughout China to test the extent of pollinator specificity. Schisandraceae are pollinated by nocturnal gall midges that lay eggs in the flowers and whose larvae then feed on floral exudates. At least three Schisandraceae have shifted to beetle pollination. Pollination by a single midge species predominates, but one species was pollinated by different species at three locations a

SUBMITTER: Luo SX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5784199 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature