| Title: | Bees use honest floral signals as indicators of reward when visiting flowers |
| Address: | "Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008, Zurich, Switzerland" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1461-0248 (Electronic) 1461-023X (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Pollinators visit flowers for rewards and should therefore have a preference for floral signals that indicate reward status, so called 'honest signals'. We investigated honest signalling in Brassica rapa L. and its relevance for the attraction of a generalised pollinator, the bumble bee Bombus terrestris (L.). We found a positive association between reward amount (nectar sugar and pollen) and the floral scent compound phenylacetaldehyde. Bumble bees developed a preference for phenylacetaldehyde over other scent compounds after foraging on B. rapa. When foraging on artificial flowers scented with synthetic volatiles, bumble bees developed a preference for those specific compounds that honestly indicated reward status. These results show that the honesty of floral signals can play a key role in their attractiveness to pollinators. In plants, a genetic constraint, resource limitation in reward and signal production, and sanctions against cheaters may contribute to the evolution and maintenance of honest signalling" |
| Keywords: | "Acetaldehyde/analogs & derivatives/analysis Animals Bees/*physiology Behavior, Animal Brassica rapa/anatomy & histology/*physiology Cues Flowers/anatomy & histology/physiology Plant Nectar Pollen *Pollination Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis Floral evo;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineKnauer, A C Schiestl, F P eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2014/12/11 Ecol Lett. 2015 Feb; 18(2):135-43. doi: 10.1111/ele.12386. Epub 2014 Dec 10" |
