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A male of Eucera elongatula Vachal (Hymenoptera, Apidae) pseudocopulating on the flower labellum of Ophrys scolopax. Rivesaltes (F), 15.III.2007 (Photo NJ Vereecken).
Source publication
VEREECKEN N.J., RISCH, S. & CORTIS, P. -A contribution to the pollination biology of Ophrys scolopax CAVANILLES (Orchidaceae) in southern France. We here provide records on the pollination of Ophrys scolopax CAVANILLES by patrolling males of Eucera (Hetereucera) elongatula VACHAL (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in southern France. At the time of our observa-...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... observations took place around noon (local time) on the 11.III.2007 and the 15.III.2007. The insect specimens have been observed attempting copulation during ca. 10 seconds on flowers of O. scolopax that had just started flowering. Five photographs have been taken during these pseudocopulations, of which one is reproduced herein (Figure 2). The specimens were caught before the end of their pseudocopulatory activity, stored in a 1.5mL Eppendorf capsule, killed by freezing, set on an insect pin and prepared for identification. All comments concerning the phenology and biogeography of Eucera species are drawn from the "eucdat" database which contains some 45.000 records of Palaearctic Eucerine bees from various entomological collections. This database was developed and is currently managed by SR who also identified the Eucera specimens collected during this ...
Context 2
... results indicate that the medium-flowered and early flowering O. scolopax in southern France is pollinated by patrolling males of Eucera (Hetereucera) elongatula Vachal (= E. trivittata auctt.) (Figure 2). Although several Eucera species have been recorded as pollinators of O. scolopax over the latter's geographic range (see Table 1), the only pollinator species observed for O. scolopax in southern France was Eucera (Eucera) nigrescens Pérez (Bournérias & Prat 2005), which usually emerges in late March/early April until early May (Westrich 1990, Müller et al. 1997). In Mediterranean France the males of E. nigrescens are generally active from the beginning of April to the end of May with the peak of activity in the last decade of April and the first decade of ...
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Citations
... Although most orchids provide floral reward to their pollen vectors, an estimated one third of all orchid species are pollinated without offering any reward to their visiting insects [3]. Nectar properties tend to be similar for plants visited by the same kinds of pollinators, and phenolic substances are also relatively common scent products of flowers that serve to attract pollinators or repel nectar thieves [4]. ...
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... Not only that, but a great number of these orchids also have wide geographic range across which no pollinator record is available. Consequently, two parasitic orchids might each have a single pollinator host, but detailed investigations across their geographic ranges and over the years sometimes reveal that these orchids are instead exploiting a broader range of insect hosts (see, e.g., Lorella et al. 2002 ; Tyteca et al. 2006 ; Vereecken and Patiny 2006 ; Bower 2006 ; Vereecken et al. 2007a) . The real range of hosts that can be exploited by a given parasite species is illustrated by Combes' (2001) " filters " concept (Fig. 4 ), which shows the mechanisms restricting the number of potential hosts. ...
Sexually deceptive orchids attract male insects as pollinators by mimicking the reproductive signals emitted by the targeted
females. Since this mimicry system involves the imitation of female mating signals of certain insects, and since mating signals,
especially sex pheromones, generally act on a species-specific basis, theory holds that each sexually deceptive orchid is
usually pollinated by only one or a few male insect species. While these orchids rely exclusively on their specialized pollinators
for their own reproduction, the male insects derive no benefit from this interaction. In this chapter, I will argue that incorporating
questions relevant to the field of animal-centered host–parasite interactions into investigations on the evolutionary ecology
of orchid pollination by deception will provide important insights at both the proximate (or mechanistic) and at the ultimate
(or evolutionary) levels.
Rediscovery of Nomada agrestis Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in Mediterranean France. - A collecting trip in the Perpignan-Narbonne area (France) has allowed us to catch several specimens of the cuckoo bee Nomada agrestis FABRICIUS (Hymenoptera, Apidae) and its putative host, Eucera nigrilabris Lepeletier. This Nomada species has not been found for more than a century in this region of southern France. We also provide a distribution map that integrates all the records of N. agrestis available in both private and public insect collections of Western Europe.
The extraordinary taxonomic and morphological diversity of orchids is accompanied by a remarkable range of pollinators and pollination systems. Sexually deceptive orchids are adapted to attract specific male insects that are fooled into attempting to mate with orchid flowers and inadvertently acting as pollinators. This review summarises current knowledge, explores new hypotheses in the literature, and introduces some new approaches to understanding sexual deception from the perspective of the duped pollinator. Four main topics are addressed: (1) global patterns in sexual deception, (2) pollinator identities, mating systems and behaviours, (3) pollinator perception of orchid deceptive signals, and (4) the evolutionary implications of pollinator responses to orchid deception, including potential costs imposed on pollinators by orchids. A global list of known and putative sexually deceptive orchids and their pollinators is provided and methods for incorporating pollinator perspectives into sexual deception research are provided and reviewed.
