Koptur Suzanne, Barrios Beyte, Valdes Imeña, Nusrat Maha
Department of Biological Sciences and International Center for Tropical Botany Florida International University Miami Florida 33199 USA.
Pepin Academies Riverview Campus, 9304 Camden Field Parkway Riverview Florida 33578 USA.
Appl Plant Sci. 2020 Feb 13;8(2):e11326. doi: 10.1002/aps3.11326. eCollection 2020 Feb.
Flowers of the Apocynaceae (milkweed family) have complex structures and pollination mechanisms. Pollen removal and deposition in , , and are similar, with anthers releasing pollen onto the sterile style head. The mid-style head excretes a glue that coats the mouthparts of vistors to aid in the transfer of pollen. Subsequent probes may deposit pollen on the receptive stigmatic surface on the lowest part of the style head, with fertilization resulting after pollination by compatible pollen.
By employing fishing line of different diameters, which reflected the diameters of the mouthparts of the different insect visitors, we determined the widths best able to remove and deposit pollen, thereby revealing which of the visitors could be effective pollinators, and which may be only nectar robbers.
We previously found that mouthpart (proboscis) width is correlated with pollen transfer effectiveness in and confirmed this here in two other species, and . Our data allowed the prediction of the most effective pollinators of these two other species.
The simulation of flower visitor mouthparts using fishing line can provide useful data for evaluating the potential for effective pollen removal and deposition by different visitors.
夹竹桃科（萝摩科）植物的花具有复杂的结构和授粉机制。在[具体植物A]、[具体植物B]和[具体植物C]中，花粉的去除和沉积情况相似，花药将花粉释放到不育的花柱头上。花柱中部会分泌一种黏液，覆盖访花者的口器，以帮助花粉传播。后续的探入动作可能会将花粉沉积在花柱头部最低处的可授柱头表面，在 compatible pollen授粉后实现受精。
通过使用不同直径的鱼线，模拟不同昆虫访花者口器的直径，我们确定了最有利于去除和沉积花粉的宽度，从而揭示哪些访花者可能是有效的传粉者，哪些可能只是盗蜜者。
我们之前发现口器（喙）宽度与[具体植物A]中的花粉传播效率相关，在此又在另外两个物种[具体植物B]和[具体植物C]中得到了证实。我们的数据能够预测这另外两个物种最有效的传粉者。
使用鱼线模拟访花者口器可为评估不同访花者有效去除和沉积花粉的潜力提供有用的数据。
