The Natural History of Pollination
Language: English
Pages: 487
ISBN: 0881923532
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The importance of insects in pollinating flowers is so well known today that it is easy to forget it was discovered less than 200 years ago; before that, it was believed that bees were simply collecting nectar from flowers. This is the most thorough and accessible treatment of a fascinating subject.
pollinators in many parts of the world. They are, therefore, the group most likely to be affected by pollination interactions, particularly competition, between the species. Such competition may lead to structured communities of bees with coexisting species differing in aspects of their ecology as flower visitors. The enormous fluctuations in abundance between years may reduce some of this but it is worth examining bee communities in detail. Bumblebees are the best studied group, although
house fly, lesser, 58, 75 hoverflies (syrphid flies), 45, 47–8, 64–71, 65–6, 78, 189, 306, 358, 382, 418, communities, 409 hovering, energy cost of, 232–3 Huernia, 296 hummingbirds, 41, 215, 226–33, 241–4, 383, 388, 391–4, 398, communities, 409–11 hummingbird, broad-tailed, Plate 7b hummingbird, bronzy hermit, Plate 7a hummingbird, Cuban bee. 227 hummingbird, hermit, 229–31, 383, 409 hummingbird, rufous, 228 hyacinth, 83 hyacinth, grape, 148 Hyacinthoides hispanica, 111 Hyacinthoides
368 raceme, 27 rachilla, 280 radial symmetry of flowers, 379 radish, 423 radish, wild, 325, 418 ragged robin, 84 ragweed, 268, 284 ragwort, 33, 73, 85, 103, 113 ragwort, oxford, 175, 333 Ramonda, 180 rampion, 178 Ranunculaceae, 68, 74, 229, 266, 284, 337, 343 Ranunculus (buttercup), 24–8, 37, 43, 45, 55, 76, 98, 99–100, 103, 322, 324, 330, 338–9, 378 Ranunculus acris, 38, 45, 86, 348 Ranunculus asiaticus, 179 Ranunculus auricomus, 348 Ranunculus ficaria, 387 Ranunculus
that a mixture of 2% ultra-violet and 98% yellow was distinguished by the bees from yellow, whereas 50% yellow had to be added to ultra-violet to make it different from pure ultra-violet to the bees. Mixtures of colours within the main colour groups also give intermediate colours; for example, a mixture of orange and green is confused by bees with yellow. It has been shown that the eye of the honeybee, like those of the blowfly and most Lepidoptera, is trichromatic, with three types of
cotoneaster (Cotoneaster integerrimus), in side view and section, another dull brownish-red wasp-pollinated flower. After Ross-Craig (1956). Fig. 6.59 Red valerian (Centranthus ruber). A, young flower with dehiscing stamen. B, older flower, stamen reflexed and style elongated. Fig. 6.60 Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum). A, newly opened flower. B, older flower. Butterfly and moth flowers The butterfly-pollinated pinks (Dianthus) were mentioned earlier in this chapter. A good