Do Beetles Prefer the Odor of Female-Stage to Male-Stage Flowers in Atemoya, a Cantharophylous Protogynous Fruit Tree (Annonaceae)?

作者：Tsukada Mono^*; Inui Miki; Suzaki Noritaka

来源：Journal of the Entomological Research Society, 2017, 19: 43-52.

• Annonaceae
• Nitidulidae
• floral odor
• beetle pollination
• behavior

The flowers of annonaceous fruit trees cherimoya (Annona cherimola) and atemoya (A. cherimola x squamosa) exhibit protogynous dichogamy. Their main pollinators are sap beetles (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae). However, pollination by beetles is usually not sufficient for commercial fruit production, so costly hand pollination is required in many areas. These beetles on cherimoya and atemoya are thought to visit the female-stage flower, remain inside it, and leave the flower when it has transitioned to the male stage; however, no study has yet directly elucidated the visiting behavior of the beetles. In this study, we examined this hypothesis using olfactometer testing in the field. Both male and female sap beetles, Carpophilus marginellus, were significantly attracted to the odor of female-stage flowers, but not to the odor of late male-stage flowers. We conclude that the beetles prefer the odor of female-stage flowers to that of late male-stage flowers. These findings support the above hypothesis describing beetle pollination behavior.

• 出版日期2017