by Carlos M.
Herrera and J. Carlos Otero
Two individuals of Brassicogethes aeneus (Nitidulidae)
on flowers of Sisymbrium
crassifolium (Brassicaceae)
Beetles are
considered the ancestral, oldest pollinators of animal-pollinated plants, and
they pollinate many extant species all over the world. Little is known,
however, on which factors explain the broad differences among plant species in
prevalence of beetle pollination. We studied differences among plant species in
flower visitation by “pollen beetles” of the family Nitidulidae, using
quantitative pollinator data for 251 plant species from well-preserved montane
habitats in southeastern Spain. Nitidulids were recorded in flowers of 25% of
the species considered, their distribution being clustered on certain plant
lineages (Ranunculales, Malvales, Rosales, Asterales) and remarkably absent
from others (Fabales, Lamiales). None of the environmental or macroscopic
floral features considered predicted nitidulid visitation, thus revealing that
plant phylogeny was the single best predictor of nitidulid pollination in the
plant communities studied.
Read the scientific publication in JPE.
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