| Title: | Flower scent of floral oil-producing Lysimachia punctata as attractant for the oil-bee Macropis fulvipes |
| Address: | "Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, 95440, Germany. stefan.doetterl@uni-bayreuth.de" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10886-006-9237-2 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0098-0331 (Print) 0098-0331 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Most flowers offer nectar and/or pollen as a reward for pollinators. However, some plants are known to produce mostly fatty oil in the flowers, instead of nectar. This oil is exclusively collected by specialized oil-bees, the pollinators of the oil-plants. Little is known about chemical communication in this pollination system, especially how the bees find their hosts. We collected the floral and vegetative scent emitted by oil-producing Lysimachia punctata by dynamic headspace, and identified the compounds by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Thirty-six compounds were detected in the scent samples, several of which were flower-specific. Pentane extracts of flowers and floral oil were tested on Macropis fulvipes in a biotest. Flower and oil extracts attracted the bees, and some of the compounds identified are seldom found in the floral scent of other plants; these may have been responsible for the attraction of the bees" |
| Keywords: | Animals Bees/*physiology Biological Assay Female Flowers/*physiology Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/methods *Odorants Plant Oils/*chemistry Primulaceae/*physiology; |
| Notes: | "MedlineDotterl, Stefan Schaffler, Irmgard eng 2006/12/08 J Chem Ecol. 2007 Feb; 33(2):441-5. doi: 10.1007/s10886-006-9237-2. Epub 2006 Dec 7" |
