Nectar Attracts Foraging Honey Bees with Components of Their Queen Pheromones.
Floral nectar often contains chemicals that are deterrent to pollinators, presenting potential challenges to outcrossing plant species. Plants may be able to co-opt pollinator chemical signals to mitigate the negative effects of nectar deterrent compounds on pollination services. We found that buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) and Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) produce nectar with abundant phenolics, including three components of the Apis honeybee queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). In addition, these nectars contain a non-pheromonal phenolic, chlorogenic acid (CA), which was toxic to honeybees, and T. diversifolia nectar also contained isochlorogenic acid (IA). Fresh nectar or solutions containing nectar phenolics reduced Apis individual feeding compared to sucrose solutions. However, freely foraging bees preferred solutions with QMP components to control solutions, and QMP components over-rode or reversed avoidance of CA and IA. Furthermore, prior exposure to the presence or just the odor of QMP components removed the deterrent effects of CA and IA. By mimicking the honey bee pheromone blend, nectar may maintain pollinator attraction in spite of deterrent nectar compounds.
Institute of Technical Biology and Agricultural Engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Anhui, China. flliu@ipp.ac.cn.|Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, 666303, China. flliu@ipp.ac.cn.
Fanglin
F
Liu
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, 666303, China.
Jie
J
Gao
Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, 666303, China.
Nayan
N
Di
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, 611 N. Pleasant St., Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
Lynn S
LS
Adler
D000818:Animals; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D019612:Fagopyrum / Q000737:chemistry*; D020387:Food Chain; D010675:Pheromones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D057048:Plant Nectar / Q000378:metabolism*; D054817:Pollination
D010675:Pheromones; D057048:Plant Nectar
Bee mandibular pheromone; Chemical mimicry; Nectar; Phenolics; Pollination