Do Queens of Bumblebee Species Differ In Their Choice Of Flower Colour Morphs Of Corydalis Cava (Fumariaceae)?

International audienceAbstractBumblebee queens require a continuous supply of flowering food plants from early spring for the successful development of annual colonies. Early in spring, Corydalis cava provides essential nectar and pollen resources and a choice of flower colour. In this paper, we examine flower colour choice (purple or white) in C. cava and verify the hypothesis that bumblebee queens differ in their choice of flower colour. A total of 10,615 observations of flower visits were made in spring 2011 and spring 2014 near Poznań, western Poland. Our results suggest that Bombus lucorum/cryptarum used purple flowers less, while Bombus terrestris used purple flowers more and Bombus hortorum showed no preference. Therefore, the colour morphs of C. cava are probably co-evolutionary adaptations to the development of another part of the insect community which has different colour preferences

The Evolution and Pollination of Oceanic Bellflowers (Campanulaceae)

11 p., tablas, gráf.Oceanic islands provide a good model for the study of species dispersal and evolution. We focus here on the evolution of pollination modes of oceanic island bellflowers (Campanulaceae), examining the degree of parallel evolution in different lineages of this family. Plants colonizing islands might either have experienced selective pressures on floral traits from vertebrate pollinators such as birds and lizards or have been pre-adapted to pollination by vertebrates prior to their colonization. The reconstruction of the ancestral pollination biology of Campanulaceae suggests that pollinators of the ancestors of bird-/lizard-pollinated bellflowers were insects. Moreover, in four island Campanulaceae lineages, only one was pre-adapted on the continent, and three made de novo shifts on the islands. Evolution towards bird pollination from insect-pollinated ancestors is also common in other island-groups, possibly because opportunistic birds are more efficient than insects. We review to what extent related species converge in their pollination ecology in related habitats on oceanic islands.Peer reviewe