TY - JOUR
T1 - Visitation of evening primrose by carpenter bees
T2 - Evidence of a 'mixed' pollination syndrome
AU - Barthell, John F.
AU - Knops, Johannes M.H.
PY - 1997/3
Y1 - 1997/3
N2 - Evening primrose, Oenothera elata, is generally considered a hawkmoth-pollinated plant species that exhibits several characteristics of a moth pollination syndrome. We re-examined its reproductive biology by testing the hypothesis that a twilight-foraging carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, can serve as its pollinator. In our study population, pollen was deposited by carpenter bees on 56% of all the flower stigmas that were monitored during evening periods and at least 70% of those monitored during successive evening and morning periods; flowers that only carpenter bees were allowed to visit produced healthy seed pods about 3 weeks later. Given the effectiveness of X. tabaniformis as a pollinator and its overlap in range with Oenothera elata, we believe a mixed pollination syndrome that includes both bees and moths is a more appropriate characterization of the pollination biology of this plant species.
AB - Evening primrose, Oenothera elata, is generally considered a hawkmoth-pollinated plant species that exhibits several characteristics of a moth pollination syndrome. We re-examined its reproductive biology by testing the hypothesis that a twilight-foraging carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, can serve as its pollinator. In our study population, pollen was deposited by carpenter bees on 56% of all the flower stigmas that were monitored during evening periods and at least 70% of those monitored during successive evening and morning periods; flowers that only carpenter bees were allowed to visit produced healthy seed pods about 3 weeks later. Given the effectiveness of X. tabaniformis as a pollinator and its overlap in range with Oenothera elata, we believe a mixed pollination syndrome that includes both bees and moths is a more appropriate characterization of the pollination biology of this plant species.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030931582&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0030931582
SN - 0038-4909
VL - 42
SP - 86
EP - 93
JO - Southwestern Naturalist
JF - Southwestern Naturalist
IS - 1
ER -