Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A scientific note on pollinators’ ability to overcome exploitation barriers: deep hummingbird-evolved corollas and small-sized bees

  • Scientific note
  • Published:
Apidologie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1.

Availability of data and material

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article. Rough numbers will be available upon request.

References

  • Baker HG, Baker I (1983) A brief historical review of the chemistry of floral nectar. In Bentley B, Elias T, Elias TS (1983) The Biology of Nectaries. Columbia University Press, pp 16–152

  • Castellanos MC, Wilson P, Thomson JD (2004) ‘Anti-bee’ and ‘pro-bird’ changes during the evolution of hummingbird pollination in Penstemon flowers. J Evol Biol 17(4):876–885

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Claßen-Bockhoff R, Wester P, Tweraser E (2003) The staminal lever mechanism in Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) - a review. Plant Biol 5(01):33–41

  • Danforth BN, Minckley RL, Neff JL, Fawcett F (2019) Bees and plants: love story, arms race, or something in between? The solitary bees: biology, evolution, conservation, pp 289–317

  • Dellinger AS (2020) Pollination syndromes in the 21st century: where do we stand and where may we go? New Phytol 228(4):1193–1213

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faegri K, Van der Pijl L (1979) The principles of pollination ecology. Pergamon, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fantinato E, Sonkoly J, Török P, Buffa G (2021) Patterns of pollination interactions at the community level are related to the type and quantity of floral resources. Funct Ecol 35(11):2461–2471

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler RE, Rotheray EL, Goulson D (2016) Floral abundance and resource quality influence pollinator choice. Insect Conserv Diver 6:481–494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giovanetti M (2019) Foraging choices balanced between resource abundance and handling concerns: how the honeybee, Apis mellifera, selects the flowers of Robinia pseudoacacia. Bull Entomol Res 109(3):316–324

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Giovanetti M, Aronne G (2011) Honey bee interest in flowers with anemophilous characteristics: first notes on handling time and routine on Fraxinus ornus and Castanea sativa. Bull Insectology 64(1):77–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Giuliani C, Giovanetti M, Lupi D, Mesiano MP, Barilli R, Ascrizzi R, Flamini G, Fico G (2020) Tools to tie: flower characteristics, VOC emission profile, and glandular trichomes of two Mexican Salvia species to attract bees. Plants 9(12):1645

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich B (2004) Bumblebee economics. Harvard University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobi B, Newman M (2012) Pollen collecting behaviour of the hylaeine bees Hylaeus (Hylaeteron) douglasi Michener, 1965 and H. (Hylaeteron) riekianus Houston, 1981 (Colletidae, Hylaeinae) on Grevillea-species (Proteaceae) in Western Australia. Bembix 33:8–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanuza JB, Rader R, Stavert J, Kendall LK, Saunders ME, Bartomeus I (2023) Covariation among reproductive traits in flowering plants shapes their interactions with pollinators. Funct Ecol. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • León-Osper M, Narbona E (2022) Unravelling the mystery of red flowers in the Mediterranean Basin: how to be conspicuous in a place dominated by hymenopteran pollinators. Funct Ecol 36:2774–2790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li P, Luo Y, Bernhardt P, Kou Y, Perner H (2008) Pollination of Cypripedium plectrochilum (Orchidaceae) by Lasioglossum spp. (Halictidae): the roles of generalist attractants versus restrictive floral architecture. Plant Biol 10(2):220–230

  • Malabusini S, Palamara Mesiano M, Zanovello D, Giuliani C, Fico G, Giovanetti M, Lupi D (2019) Flower selection of Xylocopa violacea: aromatic and ornamental plants as resources in a botanic garden. In IOBC-WPRS Working Group: Landscape Management for Functional Biodiversity, pp 41–45. IOBC-WPRS

  • Ollerton J, Alarcón R, Waser NM, Price MV, Watts S, Cranmer L, Hingston A, Rotenberry P (2009) A global test of the pollination syndrome hypothesis. Ann Bot 103(9):1471–1480

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rego JO, Oliveira R, Jacobi CM, Schlindwein C (2018) Constant flower damage caused by a common stingless bee puts survival of a threatened buzz-pollinated species at risk. Apidologie 49(2):276–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruedenauer FA, Parreño MA, Kadow ICG, Spaethe J, Leonhardt SD (2023) The ecology of nutrient sensation and perception in insects. Trends Ecol Evol. Online 14 Jun 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2023.05.006

  • Saunders ME (2018) Insect pollinators collect pollen from wind-pollinated plants: implications for pollination ecology and sustainable agriculture. Insect Conserv Divers 11(1):13–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlindwein C, Westerkamp C, Carvalho AT, Milet-Pinheiro P (2014) Visual signalling of nectar-offering flowers and specific morphological traits favour robust bee pollinators in the mass-flowering tree Handroanthus impetiginosus (Bignoniaceae). Bot J Linn Soc 176(3):396–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Kooi CJ, Vallejo-Marín M, Leonhardt SD (2021) Mutualisms and (a) symmetry in plant–pollinator interactions. Curr Biol 31(2):91–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicidomini S (2006) Biologia di Xylocopa violacea (Linnè, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Apidae): repertorio floristico europeo. Atti Mus Civ Stor Nat Trieste 53:71–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall MA, Teem AP, Boyd RS (2002) Floral manipulation by Lasioglossum zephyrum (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) ensures first access to floral rewards by initiating premature anthesis of Xyris tennesseensis (Xyridaceae) flowers. Fla Entom 85(1):290–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wester P, Cairampoma L, Haag S, Schramme J, Neumeyer C, Claßen-Bockhoff R (2020) Bee exclusion in bird-pollinated Salvia flowers: the role of flower color versus flower construction. Int J Plant Sci 181(8):770–786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ye ZM, Jin XF, Wang QF, Yang CF, Inouye DW (2017) Nectar replenishment maintains the neutral effects of nectar robbing on female reproductive success of Salvia przewalskii (Lamiaceae), a plant pollinated and robbed by bumble bees. Ann Bot London 119(6):1053–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Giacomo Tassera and Serena Malabusini for their help in the field. We are indebted to Lesley Currah for the English revision of the text. A special thank is due to Sara Leonhardt that helped us to make our view on the implications of our field observations clearer and straightforward.

Funding

This research was funded by Regione Lombardia, under the Call for the “Enhancement of Museums” (lr. 25/2016, year 2019).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Via di Corticella 133, I-40128, Bologna, Italy

    Manuela Giovanetti

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 25, I-20133, Milan, Italy

    Claudia Giuliani & Gelsomina Fico

  3. Ghirardi Botanic Garden, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, Via Religione 25, Toscolano Maderno, I-25088, Brescia, Italy

    Claudia Giuliani & Gelsomina Fico

  4. Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, University of Milan, Via Celoria 2, I-20133, Milan, Italy

    Daniela Lupi

Authors
  1. Manuela Giovanetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudia Giuliani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gelsomina Fico
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Daniela Lupi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

MG conceived the idea and planned the scientific note; field work was carried out together with DL and CG; MG wrote the manuscript with contributions from DL, CG, GF. All authors have read and agreed to the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuela Giovanetti.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Manuscript editor: Sara Diana Leonhardt

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Giovanetti, M., Giuliani, C., Fico, G. et al. A scientific note on pollinators’ ability to overcome exploitation barriers: deep hummingbird-evolved corollas and small-sized bees. Apidologie 54, 45 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-023-01024-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-023-01024-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation