Nectar parasitism of Asclepias syriaca by ants: Effect on nectar levels, pollinia insertion, pollinaria removal and pod production.

Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) umbels and stems attended by ants (Lasius neoniger Emery and Tapinoma sessile (Say)) initiated significantly fewer pods and showed a trend to produce fewer mature pods than did umbels and stems not attended by ants. Since similar numbers of pollinia were inserted in ant-attended flowers, we hypothesize that ant-excluded flowers obtain more pollinia from other clones than do ant-attended flowers of this normally non-selfing species. If pollinators from other clones first visited flowers not depleted of nectar by ants, they could provide this source of foreign pollinia. Our experiments suggest that nocturnal noctuid and geometrid moths can provide these pollinia.