Scott-Brown, Alison S., Arnold, Sarah E. J. ORCID: 0000-0001-7345-0529, Kite, Geoffrey C., Farrell, Ian W., Farman, Dudley I. ORCID: 0000-0003-3579-3672, Collins, Dominique W. and Stevenson, Philip C. ORCID: 0000-0002-0736-3619 (2019) Mechanisms in mutualisms: a chemically mediated thrips pollination strategy in common elder. Planta, 250 (1). pp. 367-379. ISSN 0032-0935 (Print), 1432-2048 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-019-03176-5)

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Abstract

The concept of flower-feeding thrips as pollinating insects in temperate regions is rarely considered as thrips are more frequently regarded to be destructive florivores feeding on pollen and surrounding plant tissue. Combining laboratory and field-based studies we examined interactions between Sambucus nigra (elderflower) and Thrips major within their native range to ascertain the role of thrips in the pollination of this species and to determine if floral chemicals mediated flower visits. If thrips provide a pollination service to S. nigra, then this will likely manifest in traits that attract the pollinating taxa at temporally critical points in floral development. T. major were highly abundant in inflorescences of S. nigra, entering flowers when stigmas were pollen-receptive and anthers were immature. When thrips were excluded from the inflorescences fruit-set failed. Linalool was the major component of the inflorescence headspace with peak abundance coinciding with the highest number of adult thrips visiting flowers. Thrips were absent in buds and their numbers declined again in senescing flowers correlating with the concentration of cyanogenic glycosides recorded in the floral tissue. Our data show that S. nigra floral chemistry mediates the behaviour of pollen-feeding thrips by attracting adults in high numbers to the flowers at pre-anthesis stage, while producing deterrent compounds prior to fruit development. Taking an integrative approach to studying thrips behaviour and floral biology we provide a new insight into the previously ambiguously defined pollination strategies of S. nigra and provide evidence that suggests that the relationship between T. major and S. nigra is mutualistic.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	wild plant pollinator, secondary plant compounds, volatile compounds, Thysanoptera, pollinating insect, cyanogenic glycosides, linalyl anthranilate, deterrent, attractant, floral chemistry, plant-insect interactions, elderflower, elderberry, elder
Subjects:	Q Science > QK Botany
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Agriculture, Health & Environment Department Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Chemical Ecology Research Group Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Pest Behaviour Research Group
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2020 07:59
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/23721

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