Assessment of Iris pumila L. pollinator and florivore diversity in a common garden: a pan-trap experiment
2022
Download 🢃
Authors:
Vuleta, AnaHočevar, Katarina
Manitašević Jovanović, Sanja
Raičević, Jovana
Plećaš, Milan
Contributors
Milutinović, MilicaDocument Type:
Conference object (Published version)
,
© 2022 by the Serbian Plant Physiology Society
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract:
Nearly all botanists give pollinators credit for the remarkable diversity of flower color, shapes
and sizes observed in nature. However, an increasing number of studies suggests that floral selection is a more pluralistic process, involving not only pollinators but also herbivores and factors
of the plant’s abiotic environment. To estimate Iris pumila pollinator and florivore diversity in a
common garden of Institute for Biological Research in Belgrade, we used a pan trap approach.
Since I. pumila displays a variety of flower color phenotypes ranging from white and yellow to
various shades of purple and blue, we painted the traps in fluorescent purple, blue and yellow. A
total of 391 insects were collected and identifed to family or genus level. In general, insects were
mostly attracted to yellow traps compared to blue and purple ones (69.3%, 19.7% and 11.0%, respectively). The most numerous potential I. pumila pollinators were bees (Anthophila) (89.8%) with
predominantly genus Halictus, while sawflies (Tenthredinidae) were signifcantly less represented
(10.2%) with only genus Athalia. As potential florivores, beetles Tropinota hirta (Scarabaeidae) and
Meligethes sp. (Nitidulidae) were identifed and all individuals were caught in yellow traps, while
specimens of other species from Nitidulidae family were found only in the blue traps. Both pollinators and florivores showed pronounced afnity towards yellow traps, indicating that in the case
of I. pumila insects have potential to be agents of floral selection. Nevertheless, it is necessary to
evaluate pollinator and florivore diversity and their color preferences in I. pumila natural habitat.
Keywords:
pollinators; florivores; Iris pumila; pan traps; common gardenFunding / projects:
- Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia, institutional funding - 200007 (University of Belgrade, Institute for Biological Research 'Siniša Stanković') (RS-MESTD-inst-2020-200007)
In:
- Milutinović M, editor. Book of Abstracts: 4th International Conference on Plant Biology and 23rd SPPS Meeting; 2022 6-8; Belgrade, Serbia. Belgrade: Serbian Plant Physiology Society; 2022. p. 142.