The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Active pollination favours sexual dimorphism in floral scent

På svenska

Author

  • Tomoko Okamoto
  • Atsushi Kawakita
  • Ryutaro Goto
  • Glenn Svensson
  • Makoto Kato

Summary, in English

Zoophilous flowers often transmit olfactory signals to attract pollinators. In plants with unisexual flowers, such signals are usually similar between the sexes because attraction of the same animal to both male and female flowers is essential for conspecific pollen transfer. Here, we present a remarkable example of sexual dimorphism in floral signal observed in reproductively highly specialized clades of the tribe Phyllantheae (Phyllanthaceae). These plants are pollinated by species-specific, seed-parasitic Epicephala moths (Gracillariidae) that actively collect pollen from male flowers and pollinate the female flowers in which they oviposit; by doing so, they ensure seeds for their offspring. We found that Epicephala-pollinated Phyllanthaceae plants consistently exhibit major qualitative differences in scent between male and female flowers, often involving compounds derived from different biosynthetic pathways. In a choice test, mated female Epicephala moths preferred the scent of male flowers over that of female flowers, suggesting that male floral scent elicits pollen-collecting behaviour. Epicephala pollination evolved multiple times in Phyllantheae, at least thrice accompanied by transition from sexual monomorphism to dimorphism in floral scent. This is the first example in which sexually dimorphic floral scent has evolved to signal an alternative reward provided by each sex, provoking the pollinator's legitimate altruistic behaviour.

Publishing year

2013

Language

English

Publication/Series

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

280

Issue

1772

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Royal Society Publishing

Topic

  • Zoology

Status

Published

Project

  • Chemical ecology of obligate pollination mutualisms

Research group

  • Pheromone Group

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1471-2954