Nils Bertol1, Maria Paniw1, Fernando Ojeda1. 1. Departamento de Biología-ceiA3, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus Río San Pedro, E-11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
Abstract
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Carnivorous plants have unusually modified leaves to trap insects as an adaptation to low-nutrient environments. Disparate mechanisms have been suggested as luring traits to attract prey insects into their deadly leaves, ranging from very elaborate to none at all. Drosophyllum lusitanicum is a rare carnivorous plant with a common flypaper-trap mechanism. Here we tested whether Drosophyllum plants lure prey insects into their leaves or they act just as passive traps. METHODS: We compared prey capture between live, potted plants and Drosophyllum-shaped artificial mimics coated with odorless glue. Since this species is insect-pollinated, we also explored the possible existence of a pollinator-prey conflict by quantifying the similarity between the pollination and prey guilds in a natural population. All experiments were done in southern Spain. KEY RESULTS: The sticky leaves of Drosophyllum captured significantly more prey than mimics, particularly small dipterans. Prey attraction, likely exerted by scent or visual cues, seems to be unrelated to pollinator attraction by flowers, as inferred from the low similarity between pollinator and prey insect faunas found in this species. CONCLUSIONS: Our results illustrate the effectiveness of this carnivorous species at attracting insects to their flypaper-trap leaves.
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Carnivorous plants have unusually modified leaves to trap insects as an adaptation to low-nutrient environments. Disparate mechanisms have been suggested as luring traits to attract prey insects into their deadly leaves, ranging from very elaborate to none at all. Drosophyllum lusitanicum is a rare carnivorous plant with a common flypaper-trap mechanism. Here we tested whether Drosophyllum plants lure prey insects into their leaves or they act just as passive traps. METHODS: We compared prey capture between live, potted plants and Drosophyllum-shaped artificial mimics coated with odorless glue. Since this species is insect-pollinated, we also explored the possible existence of a pollinator-prey conflict by quantifying the similarity between the pollination and prey guilds in a natural population. All experiments were done in southern Spain. KEY RESULTS: The sticky leaves of Drosophyllum captured significantly more prey than mimics, particularly small dipterans. Prey attraction, likely exerted by scent or visual cues, seems to be unrelated to pollinator attraction by flowers, as inferred from the low similarity between pollinator and prey insect faunas found in this species. CONCLUSIONS: Our results illustrate the effectiveness of this carnivorous species at attracting insects to their flypaper-trap leaves.
Authors: Fernando Ojeda; Ceferino Carrera; Maria Paniw; Luis García-Moreno; Gerardo F Barbero; Miguel Palma Journal: J Chem Ecol Date: 2021-01-08 Impact factor: 2.626
Authors: Laura M Skates; Maria Paniw; Adam T Cross; Fernando Ojeda; Kingsley W Dixon; Jason C Stevens; Gerhard Gebauer Journal: Ann Bot Date: 2019-08-02 Impact factor: 4.357
Authors: Thilo Krueger; Adam T Cross; Jeremy Hübner; Jérôme Morinière; Axel Hausmann; Andreas Fleischmann Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2022-03-21 Impact factor: 4.379