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Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)

Glochidion (Phyllanthaceae; leafflower trees) is a genus of trees which is widely reported to be pollinated by leafflower moths (Gracillariidae: Epicephala) in temperate and subtropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. However, the pollination ecology of Glochidion is not well described fro...

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Autores principales: Chheang, Pisal, Hembry, David H., Yao, Gang, Luo, Shi-Xiao
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9043405/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35505992
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2021.07.001
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author Chheang, Pisal
Hembry, David H.
Yao, Gang
Luo, Shi-Xiao
author_facet Chheang, Pisal
Hembry, David H.
Yao, Gang
Luo, Shi-Xiao
author_sort Chheang, Pisal
collection PubMed
description Glochidion (Phyllanthaceae; leafflower trees) is a genus of trees which is widely reported to be pollinated by leafflower moths (Gracillariidae: Epicephala) in temperate and subtropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. However, the pollination ecology of Glochidion is not well described from tropical Asia, the region where it is most species-rich at both local (≤9 spp.) and regional (~200 spp.) scales. Here we report investigations of pollination biology and species-specificity of five Glochidion species in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia). Through nocturnal observations and fruit dissections, we find that at least three and likely five Glochidion species in Cambodia are pollinated by seed-parasitic leafflower moths. We find no evidence that any of these leafflower moths are non-mutualistic parasites, despite known examples of such parasites of this mutualism elsewhere in Asia. While the presence of a single larva in a fruit results in only a fraction of seeds being consumed, the presence of more than one larva per fruit—a frequent occurrence in some species—can result in almost all seeds within the fruit being infested. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis indicates that there are five different minimally monophyletic leafflower moth clades, each of which pollinates a unique Glochidion host species. Our results indicate that in its center of diversity in tropical Asia this system is an obligate pollination mutualism as previously described at the global margins of its distribution. These findings provide insights into the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity and maintain mutualism stability in plant–insect interactions in this biodiversity hotspot.
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spelling pubmed-90434052022-05-02 Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia) Chheang, Pisal Hembry, David H. Yao, Gang Luo, Shi-Xiao Plant Divers Research Paper Glochidion (Phyllanthaceae; leafflower trees) is a genus of trees which is widely reported to be pollinated by leafflower moths (Gracillariidae: Epicephala) in temperate and subtropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. However, the pollination ecology of Glochidion is not well described from tropical Asia, the region where it is most species-rich at both local (≤9 spp.) and regional (~200 spp.) scales. Here we report investigations of pollination biology and species-specificity of five Glochidion species in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia). Through nocturnal observations and fruit dissections, we find that at least three and likely five Glochidion species in Cambodia are pollinated by seed-parasitic leafflower moths. We find no evidence that any of these leafflower moths are non-mutualistic parasites, despite known examples of such parasites of this mutualism elsewhere in Asia. While the presence of a single larva in a fruit results in only a fraction of seeds being consumed, the presence of more than one larva per fruit—a frequent occurrence in some species—can result in almost all seeds within the fruit being infested. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis indicates that there are five different minimally monophyletic leafflower moth clades, each of which pollinates a unique Glochidion host species. Our results indicate that in its center of diversity in tropical Asia this system is an obligate pollination mutualism as previously described at the global margins of its distribution. These findings provide insights into the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity and maintain mutualism stability in plant–insect interactions in this biodiversity hotspot. Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2021-07-16 /pmc/articles/PMC9043405/ /pubmed/35505992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2021.07.001 Text en © 2021 Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Research Paper
Chheang, Pisal
Hembry, David H.
Yao, Gang
Luo, Shi-Xiao
Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)
title Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)
title_full Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)
title_fullStr Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)
title_full_unstemmed Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)
title_short Diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) by leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in tropical Southeast Asia (Cambodia)
title_sort diversity and species-specificity of brood pollination of leafflower trees (phyllanthaceae: glochidion) by leafflower moths (lepidoptera: epicephala) in tropical southeast asia (cambodia)
topic Research Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9043405/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35505992
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2021.07.001
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