Pollination Ecology of Pedicularis in the Teton Mountain Region

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A field study of the pollination ecology of Pedicularis bracteosa, P. contorta, P. groenlandica, P. procera and P. racemosa was conducted in the Grand Teton Mountain area of North America. A total of 875 pollinating bumblebees (Bombus Latr.), including pollinators of Mimulus lewisii, Aconitum columbianum and Epilobium angustifolium, was collected and identified, and 575 corbicular pollen loads from them were microscopically analyzed. Pollinating behavior of insects was photographically recorded. The queen-to-worker ratio of pollinators on Pedicularis species decreased as the season progressed. Overall pollen-foraging constancy on Pedicularis ranged from 59% to 85% with a mean value of 74% for queens and 66% for workers. Highest frequencies of the nine bumblebee species on Pedicularis were 48% nectar/pollen foraging B. flavifrons+B. mixtus queens on P. bracteosa, and 72% pollen-foraging B. occidentalis workers on P. procera. Unlike the nectariferous P. procera flowers in the Colorado Rocky Mountains pollinated by hummingbirds and bumblebees, those in the Teton Mountains were nectarless and pollinated only by bumblebees. The pollination adaptation of these Pedicularis species in their respective communities suggests a product of continuing natural selection.
種生物学会の論文