Abstract
Pollinators search for multiple flora resources throughout their life cycle. Most studies, however, only assess how bees discriminate floral cues in the context of nectar foraging. In the present study, we sought to elucidate whether oil-collecting bees discriminate flowers of Byrsonima variabilis (Malpighiaceae) with petals of different colours when foraging for pollen or oil. As the colour of the standard petal changes during anthesis, we characterised the spectral reflectance patterns of flowers throughout anthesis and modelled chromatic perceptual space to determine how these colour patterns are perceived by bees. Through the quantification of flower pollen in the different phases, we found that the colour of the standard petal is an honest cue of the presence of pollen. Centridine bees preferentially visited flowers with a yellow (bee’s green) colour when searching for pollen, but indiscriminately visited flowers with different petal colours when searching for floral oil. We suggest that standard petals, in the species studied and others of the genus, like nectar guides, act as pollen guides, which oil-collecting females use to detect pollen-rich flowers. Moreover, they use different floral clues during foraging for different resources in the same host plant.
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge Kátia Vieira and Ana Laura Dutra for their help with fieldwork. BM had grant from Minas Gerais Research Foundation (FAPEMIG), RO from Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), CS and YA from National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
Funding
This work received funds from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG—grant no. APQ-01700-14).
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de Melo, B.T., Mota, T., Schlindwein, C. et al. Floral colour change in Byrsonima variabilis (Malpighiaceae) as a visual cue for pollen but not oil foraging by oil-collecting bees. Sci Nat 105, 46 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-018-1572-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-018-1572-y