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

Plant Diversity

Gang Yao¹  David H. Hembry²  Shi-Xiao Luo³  Pisal Chheang⁴ 

[1] National Authority for Preah Vihear, Choam Khsant, 13403, Cambodia;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yuquanlu, 19A, Beijing, 100049, China;Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA;Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, China;

关键词: Glochidion;    Epicephala;    Obligate pollination mutualism;    Leafflower–leafflower moth;    Phyllanthaceae;    Southeast Asia;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown