Ramos Bruna de Cássia Menezes, Rodríguez-Gironés Miguel Angel, Rodrigues Daniela
Laboratório de Interações Inseto-Planta, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, P.O. Box 68020, 21.941-902 Cidade Universitária, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA/CSIC), Ctra. de Sacramento S/N, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain.
Am J Bot. 2017 Aug;104(8):1168-1178. doi: 10.3732/ajb.1700040.
The ability of insect visitors to learn to manipulate complex flowers has important consequences for foraging efficiency and plant fitness. We investigated learning by two butterfly species, Danaus erippus and Heliconius erato, as they foraged on the complex flowers of Asclepias curassavica, as well as the consequences for pollination.
To examine learning with respect to flower manipulation, butterflies were individually tested during four consecutive days under insectary conditions. At the end of each test, we recorded the number of pollinaria attached to the body of each butterfly and scored visited flowers for numbers of removed and inserted pollinia. We also conducted a field study to survey D. erippus and H. erato visiting flowers of A. curassavica, as well as to record numbers of pollinaria attached to the butterflies' bodies, and surveyed A. curassavica plants in the field to inspect flowers for pollinium removal and insertion.
Learning improves the ability of both butterfly species to avoid the nonrewarding flower parts and to locate nectar more efficiently. There were no experience effects, for either species, on the numbers of removed and inserted pollinia. Heliconius erato removed and inserted more pollinia than D. erippus. For both butterfly species, pollinium removal was higher than pollinium insertion.
This study is the first to show that Danaus and Heliconius butterflies can learn to manipulate complex flowers, but this learning ability does not confer benefits to pollination in A. curassavica.
昆虫访客学习操控复杂花朵的能力对觅食效率和植物适合度具有重要影响。我们调查了两种蝴蝶，即黑脉金斑蝶（Danaus erippus）和红带袖蝶（Heliconius erato）在取食马利筋（Asclepias curassavica）的复杂花朵时的学习情况，以及对授粉的影响。
为了研究蝴蝶在花朵操控方面的学习情况，在昆虫饲养条件下，连续四天对蝴蝶进行个体测试。每次测试结束时，我们记录附着在每只蝴蝶身上的花粉块数量，并对访问过的花朵上移除和插入的花粉块数量进行评分。我们还进行了一项野外研究，调查黑脉金斑蝶和红带袖蝶访问马利筋花朵的情况，记录附着在蝴蝶身上的花粉块数量，并在野外调查马利筋植株，检查花朵上花粉块的移除和插入情况。
学习提高了两种蝴蝶避开无回报花部并更高效定位花蜜的能力。对于这两个物种，移除和插入的花粉块数量均没有经验效应。红带袖蝶移除和插入的花粉块比黑脉金斑蝶更多。对于这两种蝴蝶，花粉块的移除量均高于插入量。
本研究首次表明，黑脉金斑蝶和红带袖蝶能够学习操控复杂花朵，但这种学习能力并未给马利筋的授粉带来益处。
