Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert Einstein Allee 11, D 89069 Ulm, Germany.
Science. 2011 Jul 29;333(6042):631-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1204210.
The visual splendor of many diurnal flowers serves to attract visually guided pollinators such as bees and birds, but it remains to be seen whether bat-pollinated flowers have evolved analogous echo-acoustic signals to lure their echolocating pollinators. Here, we demonstrate how an unusual dish-shaped leaf displayed above the inflorescences of the vine Marcgravia evenia attracts bat pollinators. Specifically, this leaf's echoes fulfilled requirements for an effective beacon, that is, they were strong, multidirectional, and had a recognizable invariant echo signature. In behavioral experiments, presence of the leaves halved foraging time for flower-visiting bats.
许多昼花的视觉奇观旨在吸引视觉导向的传粉者，如蜜蜂和鸟类，但仍有待观察是否有蝙蝠传粉的花已经进化出类似的回声声信号来吸引它们的回声定位传粉者。在这里，我们展示了藤本植物 Marcgravia evenia 花序上方的一种不寻常的盘状叶如何吸引蝙蝠传粉者。具体来说，这片叶子的回声满足了有效信标的要求，即它们很强，多方向，并且具有可识别的不变回声特征。在行为实验中，叶子的存在使访花蝙蝠的觅食时间减少了一半。
