| Title: | Electric field detection as floral cue in hoverfly pollination |
| Author(s): | Khan SA; Khan KA; Kubik S; Ahmad S; Ghramh HA; Ahmad A; Skalicky M; Naveed Z; Malik S; Khalofah A; Aljedani DM; |
| Address: | "Laboratory of Apiculture, Department of Entomology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan. Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. khalidtalpur@hotmail.com. Unit of Bee Research and Honey Production, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. khalidtalpur@hotmail.com. Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. khalidtalpur@hotmail.com. Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food, and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00, Praha 6-Suchdol, Czech Republic. Laboratory of Apiculture, Department of Entomology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan. saboorahmad86@yahoo.com. Institute of Apicultural Research/Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. saboorahmad86@yahoo.com. Research Center for Advanced Materials Science (RCAMS), King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. Unit of Bee Research and Honey Production, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, 61413, Saudi Arabia. Department of Physics, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan. Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food, and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165 00, Prague, Czechia. Department of Botany, University of Gujarat, Gujarat, 50700, Pakistan. Department of Biotechnology, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-021-98371-4 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Pollinators can detect the color, shape, scent, and even temperature of the flowers they want to visit. Here, we present the previously unappreciated capacity of hoverflies (Eristalis tenax and Cheilosia albipila) to detect the electric field surrounding flowers. Using hoverflies as key dipteran pollinators, we explored the electrical interactions between flies and flowers-how a hoverfly acquired a charge and how their electrical sensing ability for target flowers contributed to nectar identification and pollination. This study revealed that rapid variations in a floral electric field were related to a nectar reward and increased the likelihood of the fly's return visits. We found that thoracic hairs played a role in the polarity of hoverfly charge, revealing their electro-mechanosensory capability, as in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Electrophysiological analysis of the hoverfly's antennae did not reveal neural sensitivity to the electric field, which favors the mechanosensory hairs as putative electroreceptive organs in both species of hoverflies" |
| Keywords: | Animals Diptera/*physiology *Electricity Flowers/*physiology Pollination/*physiology; |
| Notes: | "MedlineKhan, Shahmshad Ahmed Khan, Khalid Ali Kubik, Stepan Ahmad, Saboor Ghramh, Hamed A Ahmad, Afzal Skalicky, Milan Naveed, Zeenat Malik, Sadia Khalofah, Ahlam Aljedani, Dalal M eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2021/09/23 Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 21; 11(1):18781. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-98371-4" |
