Geographical matching of volatile signals and pollinator olfactory responses in a cycad brood-site mutualism.

ABSTRACT: Brood-site mutualisms represent extreme levels of reciprocal specialization between plants and insect pollinators, raising questions about whether these mutualisms are mediated by volatile signals and whether these signals and insect responses to them covary geographically in a manner expected from coevolution. Cycads are an ancient plant lineage in which almost all extant species are pollinated through brood-site mutualisms with insects. We investigated whether volatile emissions and insect olfactory responses are matched across the distribution range of the African cycad Encephalartos villosus. This cycad species is pollinated by the same beetle species across its distribution, but cone volatile emissions are dominated by alkenes in northern populations, and by monoterpenes and a pyrazin

SUBMITTER: Suinyuy TN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4614789 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature