@article {22744, title = {A signal-like role for floral humidity in a nocturnal pollination system}, journal = {Nature Communications}, volume = {13}, year = {2022}, month = {12/2022}, pages = {7773}, chapter = {7773}, abstract = {

\"Previous studies have considered floral humidity to be an inadvertent consequence of nectar evaporation, which could be exploited as a cue by nectarseeking pollinators. By contrast, our interdisciplinary study of a nightblooming flower, Datura wrightii, and its hawkmoth pollinator, Manduca sexta, reveals that floral relative humidity acts as a mutually beneficial signal in this system. The distinction between cue- and signal-based functions is illustrated by three experimental findings. First, floral humidity gradients in Datura are nearly ten-fold greater than those reported for other species, and result from active (stomatal conductance) rather than passive (nectar evaporation) processes. These humidity gradients are sustained in the face of wind and are reconstituted within seconds of moth visitation, implying substantial physiological costs to these desert plants. Second, the water balance costs in Datura are compensated through increased visitation by Manduca moths, with concomitant increases in pollen export.We show that moths are innately attracted to humid flowers, even when floral humidity and nectar rewards are experimentally decoupled. Moreover, moths can track minute changes in humidity via antennal hygrosensory sensilla but fail to do so when these sensilla are experimentally occluded. Third, their preference for humid flowers benefits hawkmoths by reducing the energetic costs of flower handling during nectar foraging. Taken together, these findings suggest that floral humidity may function as a signal mediating the final stages of floral choice by hawkmoths, complementing the attractive functions of visual and olfactory signals beyond the floral threshold in this nocturnal plant-pollinator system.\"

}, keywords = {ADULT FEEDING, ADULT MORPHOLOGY, ANATOMY, ANTENNAE, DATURA, ELECTROANTENNOGRAM, FLORAL HUMIDITY, MANDUCA, PHYSIOLOGY, POLLINATION, SENSILLA, SOLANACEAE, SPHINGIDAE, STOMATA}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-022-35353-8}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35353-8}, author = {Dahake, A. and Jain, P. and Vogt, C.C. and Kandalaft, W. and Stroock, A.D. and Raguso, R.A.} } @article {22577, title = {Nectar secretion patterns are associated to nectar accessibility in aguild of crepuscular-nocturnal flowering plants}, journal = {Plant Ecology}, year = {2022}, pages = {1-14}, type = {Early view}, chapter = {1}, abstract = {

\"Floral morphology can determine the type of animal that can be an effective pollinator. In flowers with nocturnal anthesis long-tubed flowers may attract long-tongued insects such as hawkmoths. However, flowers with more open morphology have nectar that can be more easily accessed by bats and short-tongued moths. These contrasting conditions may have consequences on nectar characteristics, since bats can mediate the selection of copious nectar with low to medium sugar concentration values, contrary to what occurs in hawkmoth-pollinated flowers that show comparatively lower nectar volumes with medium sugar concentrations. Here we describe an overview of the nectar features, secretion patterns and removal effects in a guild of plants with\  crepuscular-nocturnal anthesis in the Atlantic Forest, Northeastern Brazil. Such a plant set encompassed both species with restricted and easy access to nectar, i.e., long-tube flowers and brush-type flowers, respectively. We found a marked difference between attributes of nectar between both groups. Long-tube flowers offer nectar of higher sugar concentration at specific periods of the night that can be reabsorbed later if it has not been removed, the brush-type flowers provide nectar of low sugar concentrations, throughout the night, and may increase their production in response to consumption. These differences can play an important role in mechanisms related to the sharing of resources in the community, ensuring an even more intimate relationship between long-tube flowers and hawkmoths, and allowing brush-type flowers to deal with consumption by different nocturnal pollinators.

}, keywords = {ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST, BRAZIL, FLORAL MORPHOLOGY, MANDUCA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, NECTAR SOURCES, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-022-01250-9}, author = {Primo, L.M. and Domingos-Melo, A. and Galetto, L. and Machado, I.C.} } @article {22540, title = {Short flowers for long tongues: functional specialization in a nocturnal pollination network of an asclepiad in long-tongued hawkmoths}, journal = {Biotropica}, volume = {54}, year = {2022}, pages = {729-738}, chapter = {729}, abstract = {

\"Since Darwin, very long and narrow floral tubes have been known to represent the main floral morphological feature for specialized long-tongued hawkmoth pollination. However, specialization may be driven by other contrivances instead of floral tube morphology. Asclepiads are plants with a complex floral morphology where primary hawkmoth pollination had never been described. We detailed here the intricate pollination mechanism of the South American asclepiad Schubertia grandiflora, where functional specialization on long-tongued hawkmoth pollinators occurs despite the short floral tube of this species. We studied two plant populations in the Brazilian Cerrado and recorded floral visitors using different approaches, such as light-trapped hawkmoths for pollen analysis, direct field observations, and IR motion-activated cameras. Finally, using a community-level approach we applied an ecological network analysis to identify the realized pollinator niche of S. grandiflora among the available niches in the pollinator community. Throughout a period of 17 years, long-tongued hawkmoths were consistently recorded as the main floral visitors and the only effective pollinators of S. grandiflora. Flowers rely on highly modified corona and gynostegium, and enlarged nectar chambers, to drive visitors and pollination mechanism. Despite its relative short-tube, network analysis placed S. grandiflora in the module including exclusively long-tongued hawkmoth pollinators and the most phenotypically specialized sphingophilous plants in the community. These results represent the first example of functional specialization in long-tongued hawkmoths in an asclepiad species. However, this specialization is uncoupled from the long floral tubes historically associated with the sphingophily syndrome.\"

}, keywords = {ASCLEPIADACEAE, BRAZIL, CERRADO, COCYTIUS, ECOLOGY, MANDUCA, MODULARITY, NECTAR COMPOSITION, PLANT-POLLINATOR NETWORKS, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, PROTAMBULYX, SCHUBERTIA, SPHINGIDAE, XYLOPHANES}, doi = {10.1111/btp.13090}, author = {Amorim, F.W. and Marino, S. and Sanz-Veiga, P.A. and Ollerton, J. and Oliveira, P.E.} } @article {22349, title = {Variation in Manduca sexta pollination-related floral traits and reproduction in a wild tobacco plant}, journal = {Frontiers in Ecolology and Evolution}, volume = {9}, year = {2021}, month = {07/2021}, pages = {680463}, chapter = {680463}, abstract = {

\"Most flowering plants depend on animal pollination for successful sexual reproduction. Floral signals such as color, shape, and odor are crucial in establishing this (often mutualistic) interaction. Plant and pollinator phenotypes can vary temporally but also spatially, thus creating mosaic-like patterns of local adaptations. Here, we investigated natural variation in floral morphology, flower volatile emission, and phenology in four accessions of a self-compatible wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, to assess how these traits match the sensory perception of a known pollinator, the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. These accessions differ in floral traits and also in their habitat altitudes. Based on habitat temperatures, the accession occurring at the highest altitude (California) is less likely to be visited by M. sexta, while the others (Arizona, Utah 1, and Utah 2) are known to receive M. sexta pollinations. The accessions varied significantly in flower morphologies, volatile emissions, flower opening, and phenology, traits likely important for M. sexta perception and floral handling. In wind tunnel assays, we assessed the seed set of emasculated flowers after M. sexta visitation and of natural selfed and hand-pollinated selfed flowers. After moth visitations, plants of two accessions (Arizona and Utah 2) produced more capsules than the other two, consistent with predictions that accessions co-occurring with M. sexta would benefit more from the pollination services of this moth. We quantified flower and capsule production in four accessions in a glasshouse assay without pollinators to assess the potential for self-pollination. The two Utah accessions set significantly more seeds after pollen supplementation compared with those of autonomous selfing flowers, suggesting a greater opportunistic benefit from efficient pollinators than the other two. Moreover, emasculated flowers of the accession with the most exposed stigma (Utah 2) produced the greatest seed set after M. sexta visitation. This study reveals intraspecific variation in pollination syndromes that illuminate the potential of a plant species to adapt to local pollinator communities, changing environments, and altered pollination networks.\"

}, keywords = {FLORAL MORPHOLOGY, FLORAL SCENT, MANDUCA, NICOTIANA, PHENOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SOLANACEAE, SPHINGIDAE, TRAITS, USA}, doi = {10.3389/fevo.2021.680463}, author = {Bing, J. and Li, X. and Haverkamp, A. and Baldwin, I.T. and Hansson, B.S. and Knaden, M. and Yon, F.} } @article {22077, title = {Hawkmoth pollination in the genus Oenothera}, journal = {Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany}, volume = {5}, year = {1963}, month = {04/1963}, pages = {357-419}, chapter = {357}, keywords = {CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, EUMORPHA, FLIGHT PERIOD, HYLES, MANDUCA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, OENOTHERA, ONAGRACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, USA}, doi = {10.5642/aliso.19640504.02}, author = {Gregory, D.P.} } @article {22077, title = {Hawkmoth pollination in the genus Oenothera}, journal = {Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany}, volume = {5}, year = {1963}, month = {04/1963}, pages = {357-419}, chapter = {357}, keywords = {CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS, EUMORPHA, FLIGHT PERIOD, HYLES, MANDUCA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, OENOTHERA, ONAGRACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, USA}, doi = {10.5642/aliso.19630503.12}, author = {Gregory, D.P.} } @article {21834, title = {Pollination biology of four sympatric species of Habenaria (Orchidaceae: Orchidinae) from southern Brazil}, journal = {Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {170}, year = {2012}, month = {08/2012}, pages = {141-156}, chapter = {141}, abstract = {

\"The pollination process and breeding system of the sympatric Habenaria johannensis, H.\ macronectar, H.\ megapotamensis and H.\ montevidensis was documented for native populations from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. All species investigated offer a nectar reward (mean values of total sugars ranging from 18 to 26\%) concealed in a spur. Habenaria montevidensis is pollinated by butterflies (Hesperiidae, especially of the genus Urbanus) that carry pollinaria on their eyes; the other three species are pollinated by Sphingidae. Habenaria johannensis is pollinated by the moths Manduca rustica and M.\ sexta that carry the pollinaria at the base of the proboscis. Habenaria macronectar is pollinated by the moths Eumorpha labrusca [sic] and M. cf. lucetius, and these bear pollinaria between the palpi. Habenaria megapotamensis is pollinated by moths of M. cf. lucetius that bear the pollinaria on the proboscis. All species studied are self-compatible, but pollinator dependent. They also displayed high reproductive success (ranging from 69.48 to 97.40\%) and male efficiency factors slightly higher than 1, suggesting that at least one flower was pollinated for each flower acting as pollen donor. At the study sites, the investigated Habenaria spp. are isolated (in terms of pollination) by a set of factors that includes differing floral morphologies, different pollinators and/or different pollinarium placement on the pollinator.\"

}, keywords = {BRAZIL, EUMORPHA, FLORAL MORPHOLOGY, HABENARIA, MANDUCA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01285.x}, author = {Pedron, M. and Buzatto, C.R. and Singer, R.B. and Batista, J.A.N. and Moser, A.} } @article {21631, title = {Are pollinating hawkmoths declining in the northeastern United States? An analysis of collection records}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {12}, year = {2017}, month = {10/2017}, pages = {e0185683}, chapter = {e0185683}, abstract = {

\"Increasing attention to pollinators and their role in providing ecosystem services has revealed a paucity of studies on long-term population trends of most insect pollinators in many parts of the world. Because targeted monitoring programs are resource intensive and unlikely to be performed on most insect pollinators, we took advantage of existing collection records to examine long-term trends in northeastern United States populations of 26 species of hawk moths (family Sphingidae) that are presumed to be pollinators. We compiled over 6,600 records from nine museum and 14 private collections that spanned a 112-year period, and used logistic generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to examine long-term population trends. We controlled for uneven sampling effort by adding a covariate for list length, the number of species recorded during each sampling event. We found that of the 22 species for which there was sufficient data to assess population trends, eight species declined and four species increased in detection probability (the probability of a species being recorded during each year while accounting for effort, climate, and spatial effects in the GLMMs). Of the four species with too few records to statistically assess, two have disappeared from parts of their ranges. None of the four species with diurnal adults showed a trend in detection probability. Two species that are pests of solanaceous crops declined, consistent with a seven-fold drop in the area planted in tobacco and tomato crops. We found some evidence linking susceptibility to parasitoidism by the introduced fly Compsilura concinnata (Tachinidae) to declines. Moths with larvae that feed on vines and trees, where available evidence indicates that the fly is most likely to attack, had a greater propensity to decline than species that use herbs and shrubs as larval host plants. Species that develop in the spring, before Compsilura populations have increased, did not decline. However, restricting the analysis to hawk moth records from areas outside of a \"refuge\" area where Compsilura does not occur did not significantly increase the intensity of the declines as would be predicted if Compsilura was the primary cause of declines. Forests have recovered over the study period across most of the northeastern U.S., but this does not appear to have been a major factor because host plants of several of the declining species have increased in abundance with forest expansion and maturation. Climate variables used in the GLMMs were not consistently related to moth detection probability. Hawk moth declines may have ecological effects on both the plants pollinated by these species and vertebrate predators of the moths.\"

}, keywords = {AMPHION, COMPSILURA, DARAPSA, DEIDAMIA, DOLBA, EUMORPHA, HEMARIS, HYLES, LEPIDOPTERA, LINTNERIA, MANDUCA, POLLINATION, POPULATION DECLINE, PROSERPINUS, SPHECODINA, SPHINGIDAE, SPHINX, TACHINIDAE, USA}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0185683}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0185683}, author = {Young, B.E. and Auer, S. and Ormes, M. and Rapacciuolo, G. and Schweitzer, D. and Sears, N.} } @article {21426, title = {Specialized use of pollen vectors by Caesalpinia gilliesii, a legume species with brush-type flowers}, journal = {Biological Journal of the Linnean Society}, volume = {88}, year = {2006}, pages = {579-592}, chapter = {579}, keywords = {AGRIUS, ARGENTINA, CAESALPINIA, CALLIONIMA, FABACEAE, HYLES, LINTNERIA, MANDUCA, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, PROBOSCIS, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1, XYLOPHANES}, author = {Mor{\'e}, M. and S{\'e}rsic, A.N. and Cocucci, A.A.} } @article {21109, title = {Nectar robbery and thievery in the hawk moth (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)-pollinated Western Prairie Fringed Orchid Platanthera praeclara}, journal = {Annals of the Entomological Society of America}, volume = {108}, year = {2015}, month = {11/2015}, pages = {1000-1013}, chapter = {1000}, keywords = {AGRIUS, APIDAE, APIS, BOMBUS, HYLES, LINTNERIA, MANDUCA, NECTAR ROBBERY, NECTAR THIEVERY, ORCHIDACEAE, PLATANTHERA, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, TALLGRASS PRAIRIE, USA}, doi = {http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1093/aesa/sav093}, author = {Fox, K. and Anderson, K.M. and Andres, R. and Foster, M.C. and Foster, C.E. and Vik, D. and Vitt, P. and Harris, M.O.} } @article {20902, title = {Shape matters: corolla curvature improves nectar discovery in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta}, journal = {Functional Ecology}, volume = {29}, year = {2015}, pages = {462-468}, chapter = {462}, keywords = {BEHAVIOUR, FLORAL MORPHOLOGY, FORAGING, MANDUCA, MORPHOLOGY, NECTAR SOURCES, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2435.12378}, author = {Campos, E.O. and Bradshaw_Jr, H.D. and Daniel, T.L.} } @inbook {20789, title = {Hawkmoth pollination in Arizona{\textquoteright}s Sonoran Desert: behavioral responses to floral traits.}, booktitle = {Butterflies: ecology and evolution taking flight}, year = {2003}, pages = {43-65}, publisher = {The University of Chicago Press}, organization = {The University of Chicago Press}, chapter = {3}, address = {Chicago}, keywords = {ADULT FEEDING, BEHAVIOUR, DATURA, DESERTS, ECOLOGY, FLORAL MORPHOLOGY, FLORAL SCENT, FORAGING, MANDUCA, OLFACTION, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE, USA}, author = {Raguso, R. A. and Willis, M. A.} } @article {20068, title = {Eye attached hemipollinia in the hawkmoth and settling moth pollination of Habenaria (Orchidaceae): a study on functional morphology in 5 species from subtropical South America}, journal = {Botanica Acta}, volume = {110}, year = {1997}, month = {1997}, pages = {328-337}, chapter = {328}, abstract = {

\"Morphological adaptations to sphingophily and pollination by moths was studied in 5 South American Habenaria species. For H. gourlieana and H. hieronymi direct evidence of hawkmoth (Agrius cingulatus and Manduca sexta) and settling moth (Rachiplusia nu) pollination, respectively, by hemipollinaria attachment on the eyes, is presented. In two other species (H. paucofilia, H. rupicola) pollination by settling moths and eye attachment of the hemipollinaria can be inferred by indirect evidence (placement of scales and massulae on the flowers) and by flower structure. For the fifth species (H. montevidensis) pollination by small moths or mosquitoes with hemipollinaria attachment on the proboscis is postulated. A comparative study in floral features revealed clear morphological divergence between sphingophilous and phalaenophilous species. In addition to deeper spurs the former have slender, exerted, and upturned petal lobes (acting as mechanical guide to the hovering visitors), a much developed median rostellar lobe (acting as deflecting surface of the hawkmoths towards the viscidia), flexible and sinuous hemipollinarium caudicles (appropriate for frontal strikes against the stigma when hemipollinaria are brought by the hawkmoths dangling against the flower). Male efficiency was compared between 4 species with overlapping flowering time in the same area. Male efficiency factors were unexpectedly low in all species. Only in one species (H. hieronymi) each pollen donation accounted for more than one pollination. H. gourlieana is part of a more or less rich sphingophilous flora interacting with the same two long-tongued hawkmoth species. Interspecific competition for pollen placement on the pollinator\&$\#$39;s body surface is probably low on account of different pollination mechanisms.\"

}, keywords = {AGRIUS, HABENARIA, MANDUCA, NOCTUIDAE, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1438-8677.1997.tb00648.x}, author = {Singer, R.B. and Cocucci, A.A.} } @article {19658, title = {Synergy between visual and olfactory cues in nectar feeding by na{\"\i}ve hawkmoths, Manduca sexta}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, volume = {64}, year = {2002}, month = {2002}, pages = {685-695}, chapter = {685}, keywords = {BEHAVIOUR, FLORAL SCENT, MANDUCA, OLFACTION, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE, VISION}, doi = {10.1006/anbe.2002.4010}, author = {Raguso, R.A. and Willis, M.A.} } @article {19655, title = {Trumpet flowers of the Sonoran Desert: floral biology of Peniocereus cacti and sacred Datura}, journal = {International Journal of Plant Science}, volume = {164}, year = {2003}, month = {2003}, pages = {877-892}, chapter = {877}, keywords = {AGRIUS, APIS, CACTACEAE, DATURA, FLORAL SCENT, HYLES, MANDUCA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, PENIOCEREUS, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SOLANACEAE, SPHINGIDAE}, url = {https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/378539}, author = {Raguso, R.A. and Henzel, C. and Buchmann, S.L. and Nabhan, G.P.} } @article {19363, title = {Possible tobacco progenitors share long-tongued hawkmoths as pollen vectors}, journal = {Plant Systematics and Evolution}, volume = {241}, year = {2003}, month = {2003}, pages = {47-54}, chapter = {47}, abstract = {

\"The putative ancestors of the allopolyploid hybrid Nicotiana tabacum have distinct flower features, apparently suited either for hawkmoth or bat pollination. This suggests that progenitors were reproductively isolated by mechanical and ethological barriers. However, the present data show that in natural populations pollen vectors could be shared by two of the possible progenitors. Pollen vectors of one of the possible male progenitors (N. otophora) were short- and long-tongued hawkmoths and a nectar-feeding bat, while those of the female ancestor (N. sylvestris) were only long-tongued hawkmoths. The latter are then the most likely vectors responsible for the presumed spontaneous hybridization. These data also suggest that interspecific pollen transfer occurred more likely in one direction.\"

}, keywords = {AGRIUS, BATS, HYBRIDS, MANDUCA, NICOTIANA, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SOLANACEAE, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1007/s00606-003-0027-9}, author = {Nattero, J. and Mor{\'e}, M. and S{\'e}rsic, A.N. and Cocucci, A.A.} } @article {19284, title = {Armament imbalances: match and mismatch in plant-pollinator traits of highly specialized long-spurred orchids}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {7}, year = {2012}, month = {2012}, pages = {e41878}, keywords = {ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, HABENARIA, MANDUCA, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SHIFT, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, PROBOSCIS, SELECTION, SPHINGIDAE, WORLDMAP1}, author = {Mor{\'e}, M. and Amorim, F. W. and Benitez-Vieyra, S. and Medina, A. M. and Sazima, M. and Cocucci, A. A.} } @article {18100, title = {Hawkmoths pollination of {IMirabilis longiflora} (Nyctaginaceae)}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {80}, year = {1983}, month = {1983}, pages = {1298-1299}, keywords = {MANDUCA, MIRABILIS, NYCTAGINACEAE, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Grant, V. and Grant, K. A.} }