Pollination syndrome accurately predicts pollination by tangle-veined flies (Nemestrinidae: Prosoeca s.s.) across multiple plant families.

ABSTRACT: The idea that a syndrome of floral traits predicts pollination by a particular functional group of pollinators remains simultaneously controversial and widely used because it allows plants to be rapidly assigned to pollinators. To test the idea requires demonstrating that there is an association between floral traits and pollinator type. I conducted such a test in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, by studying the pollination of eight plant species from six families that flower in spring and have scentless, actinomorphic, upwards-facing flowers, with orbicular petals all held in the same plane. The petals are brilliant-white with red-purple nectar guides. The tubes are short and hold small volumes of concentrated nectar, except in the rewardless Disa fasciata (Orchidaceae). Pollina

SUBMITTER: Pauw A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9804979 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature