An Arthropod Deterrent Attracts Specialised Bees to Their Host Plants

Overview

Journal Oecologia

Specialty Environmental Health

Date 2011 Oct 4

PMID 21964494

Citations 12

Authors

Hannah Burger

Stefan Dotterl

Christopher M Haberlein

Stefan Schulz

Manfred Ayasse

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

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.

Citing Articles

The Chemical Ecology of Plant Natural Products.

Luo S, Hua J, Liu Y, Li S Prog Chem Org Nat Prod. 2024; 124:57-183.

PMID: 39101984 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-59567-7_2.

Floral Trait Preferences of Three Common wild Bee Species.

Heuel K, Hasslberger T, Ayasse M, Burger H Insects. 2024; 15(6).

PMID: 38921142 PMC: 11203783. DOI: 10.3390/insects15060427.

Flower Visitors of Campanula: Are Oligoleges More Sensitive to Host-Specific Floral Scents Than Polyleges?.

Brandt K, Dotterl S, Francke W, Ayasse M, Milet-Pinheiro P J Chem Ecol. 2016; 43(1):4-12.

PMID: 28032267 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-016-0802-z.

Circadian rhythm of a Silene species favours nocturnal pollination and constrains diurnal visitation.

Prieto-Benitez S, Dotterl S, Gimenez-Benavides L Ann Bot. 2016; 118(5):907-918.

PMID: 27451986 PMC: 5055817. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcw136.

Host choice in a bivoltine bee: how sensory constraints shape innate foraging behaviors.

Milet-Pinheiro P, Herz K, Dotterl S, Ayasse M BMC Ecol. 2016; 16:20.

PMID: 27068328 PMC: 4828851. DOI: 10.1186/s12898-016-0074-z.

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