Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (22)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Borba, E. L.
Right arrow Articles by Semir, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Borba, E. L.
Right arrow Articles by Semir, J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Borba, E. L.
Right arrow Articles by Semir, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Annals of Botany 88: 75-88, 2001
© 2001 Annals of Botany Company

Pollinator Specificity and Convergence in Fly-pollinated Pleurothallis(Orchidaceae) Species: A Multiple Population Approach

Eduardo L. Borba+ and João Semir

Departamento de Botânica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Caixa Postal 6109, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083–970, Brazil

Received: 3 November 2000 ; Returned for revision: 12 February 2001 . Accepted: 23 March 2001

We studied the floral biology of 12 populations of five rupicolousPleurothallis (Orchidaceae) species occurring in campo rupestre vegetation at nine localities in Brazil. All of these species are pollinated by flies belonging to the families Chloropidae and Phoridae. In the five Pleurothallis species studied, all conspecific populations attracted the same pollinator species. All pollinators were females; they laid eggs in flowers of the two nectarless species, but never in the flowers of nectar-presenting species. The two pairs ofPleurothallis species with similar flower morphologies and odours attracted the same pollinators: P. johannensis - P. fabiobarrosii, pollinated by Tricimba sp. (Chloropidae) and P. teres - P. ochreata pollinated by Megaselia spp. (Phoridae). There was no overlap in the distribution of thePleurothallis species that shared pollinators. Despite similarities in floral morphology and odour, genetic data show that these species pairs are not each other's closest relatives. We hypothesize that these similarities are due to convergence in allopatric species that evolved similar pollination mechanisms. Conversely, there are reasons to believe that adaptation to different pollination mechanisms occurred in the closely related species P. johannensis and P. teres.Copyright 2001 Annals of Botany Company

Pleurothallis, Orchidaceae, floral biology, fly-pollination, Chloropidae, Phoridae, pollinator specificity, campo rupestre


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ANN BOT (LOND)Home page
A. Jurgens, S. R. Bosch, A. C. Webber, T. Witt, D. Frame, and G. Gottsberger
Pollination biology of Eulophia alta (Orchidaceae) in Amazonia: effects of pollinator composition on reproductive success in different populations
Ann. Bot., October 1, 2009; 104(5): 897 - 912.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN BOT (LOND)Home page
C. I. PETER and S. D. JOHNSON
Anther Cap Retention Prevents Self-pollination by Elaterid Beetles in the South African Orchid Eulophia foliosa
Ann. Bot., March 1, 2006; 97(3): 345 - 355.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN BOT (LOND)Home page
C. A. LEHNEBACH and A. W ROBERTSON
Pollination Ecology of Four Epiphytic Orchids of New Zealand
Ann. Bot., June 1, 2004; 93(6): 773 - 781.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN BOT (LOND)Home page
J. OLLERTON, S. D. JOHNSON, L. CRANMER, and S. KELLIE
The Pollination Ecology of an Assemblage of Grassland Asclepiads in South Africa
Ann. Bot., December 1, 2003; 92(6): 807 - 834.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ANN BOT (LOND)Home page
E. L. BORBA, G. J. SHEPHERD, C. V. D. BERG, and J. SEMIR
Floral and Vegetative Morphometrics of Five Pleurothallis (Orchidaceae) Species: Correlation with Taxonomy, Phylogeny, Genetic Variability and Pollination Systems
Ann. Bot., August 1, 2002; 90(2): 219 - 230.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.