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Flower mites decrease nectar availability in the rain-forest bromeliad Neoregelia johannis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 May 2010

Tadeu J. Guerra ,
Gustavo Q. Romero  and
Woodruff W. Benson
Tadeu J. Guerra*
Affiliation:
Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), C.P. 6109, 13083970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
Gustavo Q. Romero
Affiliation:
Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), CEP 15054–000, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), C.P. 6109, 13083970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
Woodruff W. Benson
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), C.P. 6109, 13083970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract:

Nectarivorous flower mites can reduce the volume of nectar available to pollinators. The effects of the flower mite Proctolaelaps sp. on nectar availability in flowers of a melittophilous bromeliad Neoregelia johannis (Bromeliaceae) was evaluated in a coastal rain forest in south-eastern Brazil. In a randomized block experiment utilizing 18 flower pairs, one per bromeliad ramet, pollinators (Bombus morio) and mites were excluded, and then nectar volume, sugar concentration and sugar mass were quantified over the anthesis period. Mites significantly reduced nectar volume early in the morning (6h00–8h00), but not later (10h00–12h00). Mites decreased total volume of nectar available up to 22%. Sugar concentration in nectar was higher earlier in the morning, and decreased between 10h00–12h00. The pronounced consumption of nectar by mites during the period of higher sugar concentration reduced the total amount of sugar available to pollinators by 31%. This is the first study showing that flower mites decrease nectar rewards in a melittophilous plant. Because nectar volume by itself incompletely describes nectar production rates and the effects of nectar removal by flower mites on the availability of sugar, our study highlights the inclusion of sugar content in future studies assessing the effects of thieves on nectar production rates.

Keywords

Atlantic rain forestBrazilBromeliaceaeMelicharidaenectar thieverysugar reward
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , July 2010 , pp. 373 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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