@article {22677, title = {Distance and quality of natural habitat influence hawkmoth pollination of cultivated papaya}, journal = {International Journal of Tropical Insect Science}, volume = {29}, year = {2009}, pages = {114-123}, chapter = {114}, abstract = {

\"Crop pollination by wild pollinators is an ecosystem service of immense value to modern agriculture. Pollination by wild insects is under-researched in the tropics, where many crops may require or benefit from wild pollinators. Papaya is a dioecious tree crop widely cultivated throughout the tropics. In East Africa, papaya is an important component of rural smallholder farming systems. Traditional agricultural systems are currently under stress due to landscape degradation. These trends are of special concern with respect to pollination services provided by wild insects. Investigation of the role of hawkmoths as pollinators of papaya on subsistence farms in Kenya was conducted over a period of 3 years. Hawkmoths were the most abundant and reliable visitors to both \‘female\’ pistillate and \‘male\’ staminate papaya flowers. Hawkmoths accounted for .95\% of legitimate visits and xenogamous pollination of papaya flowers. Hippotion celerio, Nephele comma and Agrius convolvuli were the main pollinators. Sites in two districts with similar climates and natural vegetation, but different levels of habitat degradation were chosen for comparison of pollinators and pollination services. Hawkmoth abundance and visitation rates declined sharply with increasing distance of natural habitat patches from the crop. Fruit set was also reduced at sites with high levels of disturbance/poor agricultural practices. Natural habitat containing larval food plants and other nectar resources for hawkmoths therefore supports adjacent cultivated papaya with pollination services. Understanding the links between wild biodiversity, in this case pollinating hawkmoths, and agricultural productivity can help bridge the gap between agricultural development and biodiversity conservation.\"

}, keywords = {AGRICULTURE, AGRIUS, CARICA, CONSERVATION, HIPPOTION, KENYA, NEPHELE, POLLINATION, SPHINGIDAE}, doi = {10.1017/S1742758409990208}, author = {Martins, D.J. and Johnson, S.D.} } @article {22676, title = {Hawkmoth pollination of aerangoid orchids in Kenya, with special reference to nectar sugar concentration gradients in the floral spurs}, journal = {American Journal of Botany}, volume = {94}, year = {2007}, pages = {650-659}, chapter = {650}, abstract = {

\"The African orchid flora has a high proportion of species with long-spurred white flowers. Few data exist to test the prediction that this floral syndrome pattern reflects an important role for hawkmoth pollination in the evolution and ecology of these orchids. The pollination biology of five aerangoid orchid species (Rangaeris amaniensis, Aerangis brachycarpa, A. confusa, A. thomsonii, and A. kotschyana) was investigated in Kenya. Four of these have long spurs (.10 cm) and were pollinated by Agrius convolvuli and Coelonia fulvinotata. Aerangis confusa, which has relatively short spurs (ca. 4 cm), was pollinated by the short-tongued hawkmoths Hippotion celerio and Daphnis nerii. Nectar frequently filled the entire spur in some of the study species, even at anthesis. Sugar concentration of the nectar of four species was found to vary from ca. 1\% at the mouth of the spur to 20\% at the tip. Gradients were expressed more strongly in species with long, straight spurs. Species with spirally twisted spurs showed both steep and shallow nectar gradients. These gradients, previously unknown in plants, may function as a \‘\‘sugar trail,\’\’ enticing long-tongued hawkmoths to probe deeply into spurs without incurring the cost of filling an entire spur with concentrated nectar. In addition, the most concentrated nectar is kept out of reach of short-tongued pollinators.\"

}, keywords = {AERANGIS, AGRIUS, COELONIA, DAPHNIS, FLORAL MORPHOLOGY, FLORAL SCENT, HIPPOTION, KENYA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, RANGAERIS, SPHINGIDAE}, author = {Martins, D.J. and Johnson, S.D.} } @article {22675, title = {Pollination of the long-spurred African terrestrial orchid Bonatea steudneri by long-tongued hawkmoths, notably Xanthopan morganii}, journal = {Plant Systematics and Evolution}, volume = {305}, year = {2019}, month = {08/2019}, pages = {765-775}, chapter = {765}, abstract = {

\"Charles Darwin correctly predicted the existence of an extraordinarily long-tongued hawkmoth in Madagascar, based on the length of the floral spur of an Angraecum orchid. This hawkmoth, Xanthopan morganii, is also the longest-tongued hawkmoth on the African mainland, but its ecological role as a pollinator has been virtually unknown outside of Madagascar. We investigated whether X. morganii pollinates Bonatea steudneri, an orchid with floral spurs that vary from 10 to 21 cm in length among populations. At a forest locality in central Kenya, we observed X. morganii individuals with tongues ca. 16 cm in length pollinating B. steudneri plants with spurs ca. 15 cm in length. At other localities in Kenya, we observed visits by the hawkmoths Agrius convolvuli (tongue c. 12 cm) and Coelonia fulvinotata (tongue ca. 10 cm). Pollinaria of B. steudneri are attached to the eyes of hawkmoth visitors. Flowers of B. steudneri show several adaptations for hawkmoth pollination, including anthesis at dusk and nocturnal emission of scent dominated by the volatile compound linalool. This study highlights the potential for predicting certain highly specialized interactions among species by matching of their respective morphological dimensions.\"

}, keywords = {AGRIUS, ANGRAECUM, BONATEA, COELONIA, COEVOLUTION, FLORAL SCENT, KENYA, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE, XANTHOPAN}, doi = {10.1007/s00606-019-01605-2}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-019-01605-2}, author = {Balducci, M.G. and Martins, D.J. and Johnson, S.D.} } @article {19102, title = {Hawkmoth pollination of aerangoid orchids in Kenya, with specieal reference to nectar sugar concentration gradients in the floral spurs}, journal = {American Journal of Botany}, volume = {94}, year = {2007}, month = {2007}, pages = {650-659}, keywords = {AERANGIS, AGRIUS, COELONIA, DAPHNIS, HIPPOTION, KENYA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, ORCHIDACEAE, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE, XANTHOPAN}, author = {Martins, D. J. and Johnson, S. D.} } @article {19104, title = {Interactions between hawkmoths and flowering plants in East Africa: polyphagy and evolutionary specialization in an ecological context}, journal = {Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London}, volume = {110}, year = {2013}, month = {08/2013}, pages = {199-213}, chapter = {199}, keywords = {COEVOLUTION, KENYA, NECTAR COMPOSITION, PHENOLOGY, POLLINATION, POLLINATOR SPECIFICITY, SPHINGIDAE}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/110/1/199/2415668}, author = {Martins, D.J. and Johnson, S.D.} }