Borges, Renee M and Gowda, Vinita and Zacharias, Merry (2003) Butterfly pollination and high-contrast visual signals in a low-density distylous plant. In: Oecologia, 136 (4). pp. 571-573.
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Abstract
In low-density butterfly-pollinated Mussaenda frondosa (Rubiaceae), flowers attract pollinators at short distances while conspicuous, non-rewarding accessory bracts are detectable at long distances by long-ranging pollinators such as the birdwing butterfly Troides minos that did not detect flower-bearing plants in the absence of these bracts. However, even in the absence of flowers, the white, ultraviolet-absorbing bracts attracted butterflies that visited flowerless plants. Although flower visits by short-ranging territorial butterflies declined significantly on removal of bracts, they did not cease completely. Nectar-robbing carpenter bees and birds did not change their behaviour following bract removal. Bract removal caused a significant decline in fruit set, indicating their importance as visual signals to pollinators.
Item Type: | Journal Article |
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Publication: | Oecologia |
Publisher: | Springer-Verlag |
Additional Information: | Copyright of this article belongs to Springer-Verlag |
Keywords: | Advertisement; Heterostyly; Reproductive strategy; Spectral reflectance |
Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
Date Deposited: | 10 Dec 2008 11:58 |
Last Modified: | 03 Jan 2013 05:36 |
URI: | http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/16641 |
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