Title

Flower visitors of the licuri palm (Syagrus coronata): Brood pollinators coexist with a diverse community of antagonists and mutualists

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz008

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-27-2019

Publication Title

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Abstract

Communities of plants and their insect brood pollinators have provided important insights into the evolution of mutualism. The discovery of new systems has the potential to extend our knowledge of the origins and consequences of these interactions. Many palms are known to be pollinated by beetles that breed on their reproductive parts, but in most cases these interactions are not well described. Here we describe the natural history of insects visiting flowers of the licuri palm Syagrus coronata. Using a literature review combined with new data on pollination, behaviour, larval breeding sites and geography of over 25 species of insects, we show that this palm is pollinated both by generalist insects (mostly meliponine bees) and by specialized beetles that breed on floral tissues as larvae. Among these beetles, there is very strong evidence that the weevil Anchylorhynchus trapezicollis is an important pollinator and also a pre-dispersal seed predator. The seed beetle Pachymerus thoracicus, long considered only a post-dispersal seed predator, is also a pollinator. Our results increase the number of known cases of specialized brood pollinators associated with a generalist plant, opening the possibility of using palms and their associated insects as model systems in the study of coevolution and biological interactions.

Volume

126

Issue

4

First Page

666

Last Page

687

ISSN

00244066

Identifier

SCOPUS_ID:85064182465

Documento original

Compartir

COinS