Insects And Plants Flashcards
What are the main rewards for insects with regards to seeking out flowers?
Nectar Pollen Fatty oils Scent collection Egg laying (flower is food for larva) Basking Meeting mating partners Predation of other insect visitors
Benefits of nectar to insects?
Contains three sugars; glucose, fructose and sucrose
Different quantities in different flowers
Contain amino acids essential for survival especially in Lepidoptera species
How may pollen and insects influenced each other’s evolution?
Early flowering plants would have used wind pollination, this foodstuffs may have contributed to the development of flight in insects
Despite consumption of the nectar it would have been advantageous for the flowering plants to utilise the insects in pollen dispersal. Leading to the development of nectaries and other pollination methods
How is pollen useful to insects and give 2 species that it is important to?
Pollen grains are high proportionally in proteins as well as containing sugars, fats, phosphates and other nutrients
Bees collect pollen to feed larvae
Honey bee (Apis mellifera)
White tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
How are fatty oils beneficial to insects?
Higher calorific value than carbs
Used by some bees to supplement the pollen/nectar provision for larvae
How is scent collection beneficial to insects?
Euglossine bees (Euglossa deceptrix) harvest orchids scent and wear it to attract females
Why do insects choose to lay their eggs on plants? Provide an example
Flowers provide highly nutritious floral tissues to various moth fly and beetle larvae which may become accidental pollinators
Example - gall fly (Trupanea stellata)
How do plants provide insects with a place to bask?
Flowers provide landing platforms, usually with reflective petals. This also provides insects with a place to settle/bask
Even if not foraging for nectar or pollen it is inadvertently picked up (pollen)
Provide an example of an insect that uses plants as a meeting point for mates
Skipper butterflies (Thymelicus sylvestris) Red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Name a species of spider that uses flowering plants to hunt
The crab sliders
British species Misumena vatia - the flower spider
Can change colour to blend in with its background
In what ways are insects attracted to flowers?
Colour - many insects are attracted to different colours of flowers, some see in UV spectrum (bees, butterflies) and so flowers can appear very different to them than to us
Scents/pheromones - antennae are the primary olfactory organs of insects
Reproductive mimicry - flowers resemble female of certain species luring in the male
What are the 2 types of mimicry?
Mullerian mimicry - aposematic colouring (black and yellow for example) gives warning that the prey is harmful/distasteful
Batesian mimicry - non dangerous species evolving to look like dangerous species e.g hover flies
Why are insects important to the economy? And which UK insects are most important in this regard?
84% of EU crops rely on insect pollination - worth 12.6 billion to the economy Bumblebees (27 spp.) Solitary bees (250spp.) Butterflies and moths (2600 spp.) Flies (7010 spp.) Other tax (beetles, wasps, thrips)
