| Title: | Mimicking Livor Mortis: a Well-Known but Unsubstantiated Color Profile in Sapromyiophily |
| Author(s): | Chen G; Ma XK; Jurgens A; Lu J; Liu EX; Sun WB; Cai XH; |
| Address: | "Kunming Botanical Garden, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650204, Yunnan, China. State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, P. Bag X01 Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa. Institute of Konjac, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Fuyuan, 655500, Yunan, China. Institute of Konjac, Enshi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Enshi, 445000, Hubei, China. Kunming Botanical Garden, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650204, Yunnan, China. wbsun@mail.kib.ac.cn. State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China, 650204. xhcai@mail.kib.ac.cn" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-015-0618-2 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-1561 (Electronic) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "By emitting strong scents resembling rotting organic materials suitable for oviposition and/or foraging of flies, sapromyiophilous flowers mimic the substrates that attract flies as pollinators. It has been suggested that the wide range of volatile organic compounds emitted by this deceptive pollination system reflects the trophic preferences of flies to different types of substrate, including herbivore and carnivore feces, carrion, and fruiting bodies of fungi. Previous studies suggest that floral scents play a particularly important role in sapromyiophily. However, few studies on the relative importance of floral color or synergy between visual and olfactory cues in sapromyiophily have been substantiated. In this study, we analyzed fetid floral odor, floral pigment composition, and reflectance of an Amorphophallus konjac C. Koch inflorescence, and we conducted bioassays with different visual and/or olfactory cues to explore an unsubstantiated color profile in sapromyiophily: mimicking livor mortis. Our analysis showed A. konjac can emit oligosulphide-dominated volatile blends similar to those emitted by carrion. Necrophagous flies cannot discriminate between the color of an inflorescence, livor mortis, and floral pigments. We concluded that mimicking livor mortis may represent a common tactic of pollinator attraction in 'carrion flower' systems within angiosperms" |
| Keywords: | "Amorphophallus/*chemistry/*physiology Animals Diptera/*physiology Female Flowers/*chemistry/*physiology Male Odorants/*analysis Pigments, Biological/*analysis *Pollination Postmortem Changes Volatile Organic Compounds/*analysis Amorphophallus Deceit polli;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineChen, Gao Ma, Xiao-Kai Jurgens, Andreas Lu, Jun Liu, Er-Xi Sun, Wei-Bang Cai, Xiang-Hai eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2015/08/27 J Chem Ecol. 2015 Sep; 41(9):808-15. doi: 10.1007/s10886-015-0618-2. Epub 2015 Aug 26" |
