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Insect-pollinated flowers use a combination of cues to advertise themselves to insects. Further information: flower and entomophily Insect-pollinated flowers use bright colours, patterns, rewards of nectar and pollen , and scent to attract pollinators such as bees . [ 1 ]
Entomophily or insect pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen of plants, especially but not only of flowering plants, is distributed by insects. Flowers pollinated by insects typically advertise themselves with bright colours, sometimes with conspicuous patterns (honey guides) leading to rewards of pollen and nectar ; they may also ...
Such patterns also are known as "pollen guides" and "honey guides", though some authorities argue for the abandonment of such terms in favour of floral guides (see for example Dinkel & Lunau [4]). Pollinator visitation can select for various floral traits, including nectar guides through a process called pollinator-mediated selection .
In plants, the shapes, colours, and patterns of insect-pollinated flowers like the lily have evolved to attract insects such as bees. Radial patterns of colours and stripes, some visible only in ultraviolet light serve as nectar guides that can be seen at a distance. [29]
Plants fall into pollination syndromes that reflect the type of pollinator being attracted. These are characteristics such as: overall flower size, the depth and width of the corolla, the color (including patterns called nectar guides that are visible only in ultraviolet light), the scent, amount of nectar, composition of nectar, etc. [2] For example, birds visit red flowers with long, narrow ...
Hummingbird Phaethornis longirostris on an Etlingera inflorescence. Ornithophily or bird pollination is the pollination of flowering plants by birds.This sometimes (but not always) coevolutionary association is derived from insect pollination (entomophily) and is particularly well developed in some parts of the world, especially in the tropics, Southern Africa, and on some island chains. [1]
Insect pollinators preferentially visit flowers that are sexually viable and have not undergone color change. [7] Pollinators will learn and discriminate against floral stages from these signals benefiting both parties by allowing insects to be guided to flowers that are rewarding, while the flowers receive pollination. [5] [7]
A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in Salix). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem that is often drooping.