Bees use the taste of pollen to determine which flowers to visit
Bees use the taste of pollen to determine which flowers to visit
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2016.0356
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发表时间：
2016-07
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Felicity Muth;Jacob S. Francis;Anne S. Leonard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Felicity Muth;Jacob S. Francis;Anne S. Leonard
花粉既是配子体，又是传粉者的营养回报，具有双重作用。尽管花粉的化学成分在不同的植物物种之间存在差异，但其在授粉中的功能意义仍然不清楚，部分原因是人们对花的访问者如何评价它知之甚少。蜜蜂依靠花粉获取蛋白质，但觅食者是否会评估其化学成分尚不清楚，因为花粉主要由幼虫消耗。我们询问花粉的化学成分是否会影响大黄蜂的觅食行为。使用假定的甜花粉和苦花粉混合物，我们发现化学成分影响与植物适应性相关的蜜蜂行为的两个方面：收集的花粉量和随后访问视觉上相似的花朵的可能性。这些发现为植物与传粉者相互作用的营养生态学提供了一个新的视角，因为它们表明花粉的味道可能调节其收集和转移。
Pollen plays a dual role as both a gametophyte and a nutritional reward for pollinators. Although pollen chemistry varies across plant species, its functional significance in pollination has remained obscure, in part because little is known about how floral visitors assess it. Bees rely on pollen for protein, but whether foragers evaluate its chemistry is unclear, as it is primarily consumed by larvae. We asked whether the chemical composition of pollen influences bumblebees' foraging behaviour. Using putatively sweet and bitter pollen blends, we found that chemical composition influenced two aspects of bee behaviour relevant to plant fitness: the amount of pollen collected and the likelihood of subsequently visiting a visually similar flower. These findings offer a new perspective on the nutritional ecology of plant–pollinator interactions, as they show that pollen's taste may mediate its collection and transfer.