Pollination ecology in tribe "Delphineae" ("Ranunculaceae") in W mediterranean area: floral visitors and pollinator behaviour

• María Bosch ^[1] ; Joan Simon Pallisé ^[1] ; Cèsar Blanché i Vergés ^[1] ; Jullià Molero i Briones ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat de Barcelona

     Universitat de Barcelona

     Barcelona, España

     
• Localización: Lagascalia, ISSN 0210-7708, Vol. 19, Nº 1-2, 1997, págs. 545-562
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen

  • The pollination ecology of W. Mediterranean species of the genera Aconitum, Delphinium and Consolida has been studied, mainly from the point of view of floral visitors and potential pollinators. Investigations about the foraging behaviour on the flower allowed us to differ between legal pollinators, nectar or pollen robbers, floral predators and accidentals. Field observations showed that the main pollinators are hymenoptera of the genus Bombus, principally in high mountain species (Aconitum and D. montanum), whereas the remaining species growing in lower habitats showed a wider taxonomic range of visitors, including other Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera, some of which acted as pollinators. The plants studied have a complex floral morphology, closely adapted to insect-pollination. They produced a large amount of nectar in specialized structures hidden in a spur (in Delphinium and Consolida) or in a helmet (in Aconitum). Correlation between nectary length and insect tongue length has been studied. Analysis of corbiculae showed that the Delphineae species are the greatest pollen source, together with small amounts of other neighbouring plants in each population