Effective pollinia transfer by settling moths’ legs in an orchid Habenaria aitchisonii  

作　　者：Ying-Ze Xiong Li-Bing Jia Chang-Qiu Liu Shuang-Quan Huang 

机构地区：[1]School of Life Sciences,China CentraI Normal University,Wuhan 430079,China [2]Guangxi Institute of Botany,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences,Guilin 541006,China

出　　处：《Journal of Systematics and Evolution》2020年第2期174-181,共8页植物分类学报（英文版）

基　　金：This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U1402267,31730012)to SQH and self-determined research funds of CCNU from the colleges1 basic research and operation of MOE,Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST(2016QNRC001);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31700200)to YZX.

摘　　要：A great diversity of flower morphology in orchids has long been thought to be selected by diverse pollinators. Habenaria Willd. (Orchidaceae) species are generally characterized by long nectar spurs and pollinated by long‐tongued insects (Lepidoptera), the mechanical fit between the spur and pollinator proboscis length being supposedly caused by “arms race” reciprocal selection. Here, we report that flowers of Habenaria aitchisonii Rchb. f. with nectar spurs (approximately 9 mm) were pollinated by three species of settling noctuid moths whose proboscises varied in length from 10 to 16 mm. When a settling moth crawled on the spikes and probed the flowers for nectar, pollinia were placed on the moths’ legs rather than on other body parts. Our 5‐year survey of pollinia movement and 3‐year supplemental pollination experiments indicated that fruit and seed production in this orchid were not often pollen‐limited at flower level. In a natural population in Shangri‐La, Southwest China, the proportions of pollinia removal and deposition on stigmas by moth legs were 93.8% and 83.5%, respectively. This finding of efficient pollen transfer by the pollinators’ legs in H. aitchisonii adds a new example of diverse pollinia placement on pollinators (here settling moths) in the Orchidaceae.

关 键 词：leg placement NECTAR spur Orchidaceae plant-pollinator interaction pollen TRANSFER pollination mode SETTLING moth 

分 类 号：Q94[生物学—植物学]