Lecture 17

Question 1

Name some pollinators, and describe floral adaptations associated with
them

Answer 1

• Bees
  —- bright yellow
  —- nectar
  —- bell shaped
  —- fresh scented
  —- open in day
• Butterflies
• humming bird
  —- bright red
  —- copious nectar
  —- no scent
  —- tubular
  —- open in day
  —- anthers as brush
• moth
  —- white
  —- sweet scent
  —– copioius nectar
  —– open at night

Question 2

whats in it for the pollinators?

Answer 2

• floral oils
• nectar
• resins
• heat sources
• mating sites
• floral structures for nest construction

Question 3

Make an educated guess about the probable pollinator group of a flower
based on a picture of that flower

Answer 3

colours and shape

Question 4

Discuss why plant-pollinator interactions can be understood as a mutualism

Answer 4

because of the rewards for both

Question 5

Explain why sometimes one party in the mutualism “cheats”, and provide
some examples

Answer 5

• bee peircing hole in spur to access nectar
• flower mimics feamle wasps to induce males to try and mate
  plant attracts flies by appearance and odor to trap them

Question 6

Explain why adaptations that promote pollinator fidelity can promote
speciation

Answer 6

it creates and reinforces reproductive barriers between subsets of populations