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An Aromatic Volatile Attracts Oligolectic bee Pollinators in an Interdependent bee-Plant Relationship

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Abstract

Chemical signals emitted by the plant frequently mediate host-plant localization in specialized animal – plant associations. Studying the interdependent highly specialized association of the narrowly oligolectic bee pollinator Protodiscelis palpalis (Colletidae, Neopasiphaeinae) with Hydrocleys martii (Alismataceae) in ephemeral aquatic water bodies in semi-arid Caatinga of Brazil, we asked if specific volatile compounds produced by the flowers mediate pollinator attraction. The yellow Hydrocleys flowers are the sole pollen and nectar resources, and mating sites for the bees. We analyzed the floral scents of this species and of the closely related H. nymphoides, which is not visited by P. palpalis, and tested the main volatile compounds of both species under field conditions to evaluate their attractiveness to bees of P. palpalis. Methoxylated aromatics were the dominant floral scent components in both species, but each species exhibited a characteristic scent profile. Dual choice bioassays using artificial flowers made of yellow and blue adhesive paper clearly revealed that ρ-methylanisole alone, the dominant volatile of H. martii, attracted significantly more bees than unbaited flowers. This compound represents an olfactory communication channel used by the plant that lures its effective oligolectic pollinators to its flowers. Yellow artificial flowers baited significantly more bees than blue ones. Our study reinforces the recent findings that specific compounds in complex floral scent bouquets are crucial for host-plant location in oligolectic bees.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Irmgard Schäffler and Paulo Milet-Pinheiro for help in the laboratory, Antonio de Brito Tenório and Leniro Tenorio Vaz for support during fieldwork, and ICMBio for collection license 12737–1. The study received financial support by the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq Universal 481605/2011-8); ATC and CS acknowledge research grants from CNPq and CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior), Brazil.

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  1. Airton Torres Carvalho

    Present address: Departamento de Ciências Animais, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Avenida Francisco Mota 572 Costa e Silva, 59625-900, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

  2. Stefan Dötterl

    Present address: Department of Organismic Biology Plant Ecology, University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia), Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Cidade Universitária, 58059-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil

    Airton Torres Carvalho

  2. Department of Plant Systematic, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Stefan Dötterl

  3. Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627 Pampulha, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

    Clemens Schlindwein

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  1. Airton Torres Carvalho
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Correspondence to Clemens Schlindwein.

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Carvalho, A.T., Dötterl, S. & Schlindwein, C. An Aromatic Volatile Attracts Oligolectic bee Pollinators in an Interdependent bee-Plant Relationship. J Chem Ecol 40, 1126–1134 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-014-0510-5

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