Chewed-up flowers still smell fine enough to attract pollinators
Tunes P, Canaveze Y, Machado SR, Dötterl S, Guimarães E.
Plant Signaling
The flowers in your garden that get nibbled by beetles or caterpillars are likely still calling in their pollinators just fine, since this study found scent mostly survives real-world petal damage intact.
Scientists wondered what happens to a flower's smell after bugs chew on its petals, since scent is how many flowers call in bees, moths, and hummingbirds. Studying seven wildflower species in a Brazilian savanna, they found that even after losing 15% of the scent-producing petal tissue, most flowers kept emitting the same amount and mix of fragrance. The one exception was a moth-pollinated flower, which lost scent power even when barely nibbled, showing that some species are more fragile than others.
Key Findings
Across seven plant species pollinated by bees, hummingbirds, hawkmoths, or butterflies, florivory (flower-feeding damage) up to 15% of scent-producing corolla tissue caused no drop in total floral scent amount.
One hawkmoth-pollinated species was the exception: scent emission dropped even though only 3% of its osmophore (scent-gland) tissue was consumed.
Scent composition (the mix of volatile chemicals) was unchanged by florivory in every species tested, suggesting pollinator attraction is largely preserved after herbivore damage.
chevron_right Technical Summary
When insects and other animals munch on flower petals, it turns out flowers mostly keep smelling the same, meaning bees, hummingbirds, and moths can still find them. Only one moth-pollinated flower species showed weaker scent after even minor petal damage.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Resilience of floral scent emission after florivory.
Throughout evolutionary time, florivory has always represented an important source of selective pressure on flower evolution. When feeding, florivores remove corolla portions and undoubtedly change...
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