First report on the pollination of Neotinea maculata (Orchidaceae) by minor worker ants of the Temnothorax exilis group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

IF 1 4区生物学 Q3 PLANT SCIENCES

Mediterranean Botany Pub Date : 2021-06-23 DOI:10.5209/mbot.71171

Jaime García Gila, Javier Blasco Aróstegui

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Ants commonly visit flowers seeking for food resources such as nectar. However, only eight species of orchids are known for having an effective pollinaria removal by ants. In this study, the visit of the orchid Neotinea maculata (Desf.) Stearn by ants is described in one of the three known populations from the province of Valladolid (Spain). Through direct observation, six minor worker ants of Temnothorax exilis (Emery, 1869) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) group were found visiting flowers of six plants of N. maculata, and four of them were carrying pollinaria on their heads. Other insects were not observed with pollinaria or visiting the flowers. Overall, we found that 33.3% of all the flowers had no pollinaria (96 flowers without pollinaria in a total of 288 flowers). Nevertheless, despite ants observed in the field only promoted cross-pollination between flowers of the same individual (geitonogamy), there is a possibility that the ant will visit another plant’s inflorescence. Thus, ants could be considered not only as visitors but also as true pollinators of N. maculata.

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小工蚁(膜翅目:蚁科)传粉新棉(兰科)初报

蚂蚁通常会到花上寻找花蜜等食物资源。然而，只有八种兰花被蚂蚁有效地清除了传粉昆虫。在本研究中，研究了兰科植物Neotinea maculata (Desf.;在巴利亚多利德省(西班牙)已知的三个种群中的一个中描述了蚂蚁的脂肪。通过直接观察，发现6只Temnothorax exilis (Emery, 1869)(膜翅目:蚁科)小工蚁(Temnothorax exilis, 1869)正在访花，其中4只工蚁头顶花粉。其他昆虫没有被观察到与传粉昆虫或访问花。结果表明，288朵花中有96朵花无传粉，占33.3%。然而，尽管在田间观察到的蚂蚁只促进了同一个体的花之间的异花授粉(异族交配)，但蚂蚁有可能会访问另一种植物的花序。因此，蚂蚁不仅可以被认为是访花者，而且可以被认为是真正的传粉者。

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来源期刊

Mediterranean Botany Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Plant Science

CiteScore

2.40

自引率

10.00%

发文量

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Mediterranean Botany (ISSNe 2603-9109), formerly Lazaroa, is a biannual journal that publishes original research studies in the field of Botany including plant systematics, vegetation ecology, biogeography, evolutionary biology, ecophysiology, community ecology, ethnobotany and conservation biology on Mediterranean biomes but also in interacting areas. Mediterranean Botany is an OPEN ACCESS Journal, free of charges for any published article.