Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Pollinator attraction in Anacamptis papilionacea (Orchidaceae): a food or a sex promise?

2009; Wiley; Volume: 24; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1442-1984.2009.00244.x

1442-1984

Giovanni Scopece, Nicolas Juillet, Andreas Müller, Florian P. Schiestl, Salvatore Cozzolino,

Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

The Mediterranean orchid Anacamptis papilionacea, despite showing a typical food-deceptive floral display, has also been reported to frequently attract male pollinators, suggesting a potentiality for sexual attraction. In a survey from a southern Italian population of A. papilionacea and their hybrids with Anacamptis morio, we collected 37 pollinators belonging to five bee species carrying 126 orchid pollinia. The main pollinator of A. papilionacea was Anthophora crinipes male (48.6%), but the number of females was not negligible (22.9%). We also found pollinator sharing between the hybrid and the parental species. Our findings confirm that, contrary to other food-deceptive species, A. papilionacea mainly attracts male insects, but also that, in contrast to sexually deceptive species, this attraction is not specific. We suggest that A. papilionacea adopts a complex mix of food and sexually deceptive pollination and could represent a helpful model for studying the transition between different pollination strategies.