| Full text | |
| Author(s): |
Leite El Ottra, Juliana Hanna
;
Pirani, Jose Rubens
;
Pansarin, Emerson Ricardo
Total Authors: 3
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Rev. bras. Bot.; v. 39, n. 3, p. 12-pg., 2016-09-01. |
| Abstract | |
Tubular flowers are only found in two distantly related groups in Rutaceae: the mainly Australian tribe Boronieae and the Neotropical subtribe Galipeinae. It is assumed that these nectar-rewarded, tubular flowers arose from convergent evolution driven by pollinator pressures. However, there are few empirical studies on pollen vectors of Neotropical Rutaceae. We explored the floral biology and pollination of Conchocarpus rubrus (A. St.-Hil.) Bruniera and Groppo (Galipeinae), including details about its nectar-secreting floral structures. We also compared the available records on floral biology and pollination of Boronieae and Galipeinae, aiming to provide a better understanding of the factors that influenced their floral evolution. Conchocarpus rubrus was pollinated by a single species of hermit hummingbird (Phaethornis idaliae Bourcier and Mulsant 1856) and by butterflies (Pyrginae and Pierinae), which take nectar accumulated at the bottom of the tube. Floral features and pollination data indicate that the convergent evolution of floral tubes in Rutaceae resulted from phenotypic specialization toward a subset of nectar-foraging pollinators with long mouth parts. Specifically, while in the Australian Boronieae the evolutive pathway toward sympetaly was likely influenced by Meliphagidae birds, in the Galipeinae, it was influenced by hummingbirds, butterflies, and settling moths. Besides a floral tube, floral features also linked to phenotypic specialization toward Meliphagidae pollination in Boronieae were related not only to birds' attraction (nectar features, attractive colors, etc.), but also to insect impediments (sensory exclusion, absence of landing platforms, etc.), occurring together with other ornithophilous features. In Galipeinae, floral features are more diverse, and functionally linked to the different groups of pollinators herein found. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 09/54569-9 - Floral evolution and systematics of Galipeinae (Rutaceae) |
| Grantee: | José Rubens Pirani |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| FAPESP's process: | 09/08764-4 - Floral evolution and systematics of Galipeinae (Rutaceae) |
| Grantee: | Juliana Hanna Leite El Ottra |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct) |