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An arthropod deterrent attracts specialised bees to their host plants

  • Plant-Animal interactions - Original Paper
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Abstract

Many bee species are adapted to just a few specific plants in order to collect pollen (oligolecty). To reproduce successfully, it is important for oligolectic bees to find and recognise the specific host flowers. In this study, we investigated the role of floral volatiles used by an oligolectic bee to recognise its host plants. We compared the attractiveness of natural and synthetic scent samples of host flowers to foraging-naïve and -experienced Hoplitis adunca (Megachilidae) bees that are specialised on Echium and Pontechium (Boraginaceae) plants. The investigations showed that naïve H. adunca females are attracted to 1,4-benzoquinone. During their lifetime, bees learn additional floral cues while foraging on host flowers. In contrast to naïve ones, experienced H. adunca females use, in addition to 1,4-benzoquinone, other compounds to recognise their host plants. 1,4-Benzoquinone is an uncommon floral compound only known from the host plants of H. adunca, and is therefore ideally suited to be used as a plant-specific recognition cue. Several arthropods use this compound to deter insect predators. Therefore, 1,4-benzoquinone as an attractant in Echium flowers may have evolved from a primary function as a defensive compound against insect herbivores.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Paulo Milet-Pinheiro for his critical reading, David Ponting for his linguistic advice, and two anonymous reviewers gave valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. H.B. wishes to thank the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes for financial support. All experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed: in this case, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany

    Hannah Burger & Manfred Ayasse

  2. Department of Plant Systematics, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Stefan Dötterl

  3. Institut für Organische Chemie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hagenring 30, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany

    Christopher M. Häberlein & Stefan Schulz

Authors
  1. Hannah Burger
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  2. Stefan Dötterl
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  3. Christopher M. Häberlein
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  4. Stefan Schulz
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  5. Manfred Ayasse
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Correspondence to Manfred Ayasse.

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Communicated by Diethart Matthies.

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Burger, H., Dötterl, S., Häberlein, C.M. et al. An arthropod deterrent attracts specialised bees to their host plants. Oecologia 168, 727–736 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2136-4

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