Heat reward for insect pollinators
- 1 November 2003
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature
- Vol. 426 (6964), 243-244
- https://doi.org/10.1038/426243a
Abstract
In neotropical forests, adults of many large scarab beetle species spend most of their time inside the floral chambers of heat-producing flowers, where they feed and mate throughout the night and rest during the following day, before briefly flying to another flower. Here we measure floral temperatures in Philodendron solimoesense (Araceae) in French Guiana and the respiration rates of Cyclocephala colasi beetles at floral and ambient temperatures, and show that the the beetles' extra energy requirements for activity are 2.0-4.8 times greater outside the flower than inside it. This finding indicates that heat produced by the flower constitutes an important energy reward to pollinators, allowing them to feed and mate at a fraction of the energy cost that would be required outside the flower.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Zonal thermogenetic dynamics of two species of Philodendron from two different subgenera (Araceae)Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002
- New Perspectives on the Pollination Biology of Basal AngiospermsInternational Journal of Plant Sciences, 2000
- Convergent evolution and adaptive radiation of beetle-pollinated angiospermsÖsterreichische botanische Zeitschrift, 2000
- Respiration, temperature regulation and energetics of thermogenic inflorescences of the dragon lily Dracunculus vulgaris (Araceae)Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 1999
- Pattern of respiration by intact inflorescences of the thermogenic arum lily Philodendron selloumJournal of Experimental Botany, 1999
- Heat-producing flowersEndeavour, 1997
- Olfactory and Visual Attraction of Erioscelis emarginata (Cyclocephalini, Dynastinae) to the Inflorescences of Philodendron selloum (Araceae)Biotropica, 1991
- THE REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF PRIMITIVE ANGIOSPERMSTaxon, 1988
- Endothermy During Terrestrial Activity in Large BeetlesScience, 1977