CO‐EVOLUTION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS — SYSTEMATIC INSIGHTS FROM PLANT‐INSECT INTERACTIONS

Abstract

Summary: Born over 200 years ago the science of anthecology (pollination ecology) has developed new concepts in the last 50 years using quantified information from studies of insect sense perception and behavior. Flower‐insect coadaptation is considered a continuing process in which changing interrelationships establish and remove reproductive barriers in breeding systems at the vital link of pollen transport. Convergent evolution is apparently reflected in the development of similar pollination mechanisms in unrelated plant taxa through pollinator sharing, floral mimicry, and synchronous anthesis of sympatric species. Reproductive isolation of plant taxa is suggested in diversity and versatility of pollinator behavior, unsynchronized anthesis, and functional as well as structural differences in pollination mechanisms. Contributions of anthecology to systematics are primarily useful for a fuller understanding of the origin of taxonomic entities and secondarily in defining criteria for their establishment.