Pollination in Epidendrum densiflorum Hook. (Orchidaceae: Laeliinae): Fraudulent Trap-Flowers, Self-Incompatibility, and a Possible New Type of Mimicry.

ABSTRACT: The pollination and the breeding system of Epidendrum densiflorum (Orchidaceae: Laeliinae) were studied through fieldwork and controlled pollinations in cultivated plants. Pollination is exclusively promoted by males of diurnal Lepidoptera: five species of Arctiinae and four of Ithomiinae were recorded as pollinators. These male insects are known to obtain alkaloids (through the nectar) in flowers of Asteraceae and Boraginaceae. However, the flowers of E. densiflorum are nectarless, despite presenting a cuniculus (a likely nectariferous cavity). Pollinators insert their proboscides into the flowers and remove or deposit the pollinaria while searching for nectar. The floral tube is very narrow, and insects struggle for up to 75 min to get rid of the flowers. Plants are pollina

SUBMITTER: Silveira RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9921780 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature