title: Evidence of red sensitive photoreceptors in Pygopleurus israelitus (Glaphyridae: Coleoptera) and its implications for beetle pollination in the southeast Mediterranean.
abstract: A very well-documented case of flower-beetle interaction is the association in the Mediterranean region between red bowl-shaped flowers and beetles of the family Glaphyridae. The present study examines the visual mechanisms by which Pygopleurus israelitus (Glaphyridae: Scarabaeoidea: Coleoptera) would perceive the colors of flowers they visit by characterizing the spectral sensitivity of its photoreceptors. Our measurements revealed the presence of three types of photoreceptors, maximally sensitive in the UV, green and red areas of the spectrum. Using color vision space diagrams, we calculated the distribution of beetle-visited flower colors in the glaphyrid and honeybee color space and evaluated whether chromatic discrimination differs between the two types of pollinators. Respective color loci in the beetle color space are located on one side of the locus for green foliage background, whereas in the honeybee the flower color loci surround the locus occupied by green foliage. Our results represent the first evidence of a red sensitive photoreceptor in a flower-visiting coleopteran species, highlighting Glaphyridae as an interesting model group to study the role of pollinators in flower color evolution.
authors.affiliation: FU Biologie, Institut für Biologie-Neurobiologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise Str. 28/30, 14195, Berlin, Germany. j.martinez-harms@fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Harms
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vorobyev
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schorn
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shmida
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keasar
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Homberg
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schmeling
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menzel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D003116:Color; D003118:Color Perception; D055253:Color Vision; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D035264:Flowers; D008297:Male; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008954:Models, Biological; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000502:physiology*; D054817:Pollination; D012684:Sensory Thresholds