Floral visitors in the Australian endemic Passiflora

by Shawn Krosnick, Tim Schroeder, Majesta Miles, and Samson King

Little is known about pollination in the 24 species of Passiflora (passion fruit) that are native to mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. Three species occur in Australia along the eastern coast extending from Queensland to Victoria. Although they are most closely related to other Asian Passiflora, the Australian native species exhibit many similarities to New World hummingbird pollinated taxa. For example, they have flowers that are yellow, orange, red, or pink, remain open for several days, lack scent, and produce large quantities of nectar. While ornithophilous pollination has been hypothesized for the Australian taxa, no studies have been performed to examine the reproductive biology of this group. 

Eastern Spinebill visiting a Passiflora flower.

Read the whole summary in: English!
Read the scientific publication in JPE.

Pollinator dependency of six tropical vegetable crops in southern India

by Saranya Carr and Priya Davidar 

Apis cerana bee on male flower of brinjal (aubergine)

 Although pollinator declines have been extensively documented in temperate countries, there is a paucity of data from tropical countries. We studied six vegetable crops in small family farms practicing mixed cropping in southern India to document flower visiting insects, that could transfer pollen between flowers.  

Read the whole summary in: English or Hindi!
Read the scientific publication in JPE.