Plant-pollinator in teractio ns have a fundame ntal in fluence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far l...Plant-pollinator in teractio ns have a fundame ntal in fluence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape in fluences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera pref ere nces using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany;thus, avoiding in flue nces of color, odor, or prior experie nee. In depende nt bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically desig ned to assess pref ere nces for size, shape, brightness, or the number of flower-like shapes prese nt in an image. We show that honeybees have a pref ere nee for visiti ng images of in sect-polli nated flowers and such a pref ere nee is most-likely mediated by holistic in formati on rather than by in dividual image parameters. Our results in dicate an giosperms have evolved flower shapes which in fluence the choice behavior of importa nt pollinators, and thus suggest spatial achromatic flower properties are an important part of visual signaling for plantpollinator in teractions.展开更多
文摘Plant-pollinator in teractio ns have a fundame ntal in fluence on flower evolution. Flower color signals are frequently tuned to the visual capabilities of important pollinators such as either bees or birds, but far less is known about whether flower shape in fluences the choices of pollinators. We tested European honeybee Apis mellifera pref ere nces using novel achromatic (gray-scale) images of 12 insect-pollinated and 12 bird-pollinated native Australian flowers in Germany;thus, avoiding in flue nces of color, odor, or prior experie nee. In depende nt bees were tested with a number of parameterized images specifically desig ned to assess pref ere nces for size, shape, brightness, or the number of flower-like shapes prese nt in an image. We show that honeybees have a pref ere nee for visiti ng images of in sect-polli nated flowers and such a pref ere nee is most-likely mediated by holistic in formati on rather than by in dividual image parameters. Our results in dicate an giosperms have evolved flower shapes which in fluence the choice behavior of importa nt pollinators, and thus suggest spatial achromatic flower properties are an important part of visual signaling for plantpollinator in teractions.
