How floral guides determine flower-visiting behaviour of bees and flies

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• Prof. Klaus Lunau, University of Duesseldorf
• Tuesday 09 February 2016, 13:00-14:00
• Large Lecture Theatre, Department of Plant Sciences.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Beverley Glover.

Many flowers display a floral colour pattern comprising at least two components, a peripheral large area attracting flower visitors from some distance and a small contrastingly coloured area known as floral guide. The talk focuses on the comparison of two kinds of floral guides and its key components colour, size, shape and gloss. The common yellow and UV-absorbing floral guides of bee-pollinated flowers are mimicking pollen and stamens, elicit innate responses in bees and hoverflies and impede the discrimination between different flower morphs and flowering phases. Blackish floral guides have various context-depending functions including reduction of floral handling time, attraction of pollinating beetles and flies by mimicking potential mating partners, deterrence of gall midges by mimicking galls, signalling of nectar reward, but mostly unknown.

This talk is part of the Plant Sciences Talks series.

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• Large Lecture Theatre, Department of Plant Sciences

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