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In addition to
attracting insects and guiding them to food resources within the bloom, floral
volatiles are essential for insects to discriminate among plant types and even
among individual flowers of a single species.
For example, closely related plant species
that rely on different types of insects for pollination produce different odours, reflecting the olfactory sensitivities or preferences of the
pollinators.
By providing species specific signals, the fragrances facilitate
an insect's ability to learn particular food sources, thereby increasing its
foraging efficiency. At the same time, successful pollen transfer (thus sexual
reproduction) is ensured, benefiting the plants.
Scent outputs tend to be at the highest
levels only when the flowers are ready for pollination and when potential
pollinators are active.
Bees and butterflies tend to plants that maximize
their output during the day, whereas flowers that release their fragrance
mostly at night are visited by moths and bats.
During development, recently opened and
young buds, which are not ready to function as pollen donors, produce fewer
odors and are less appealing to pollinators than older flowers.
Once a flower
has been sufficiently fertilized, its bouquets are again reduced, encouraging
insects to select other blossoms instead.
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Acknowledgment, source of information for pitcher plant; Copyright 2005 Scientific American. Natalia
Dudareva, associate professor in the department of hoticulture and landscape
architecture at Purdue University.
The Star, 16 Oct.2005 page 40 Sci-Tech. |
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