Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features

Scientific Reports
D BaracchiL Chittka

Abstract

Many plants defend themselves against herbivores by chemical deterrents in their tissues and the presence of such substances in floral nectar means that pollinators often encounter them when foraging. The effect of such substances on the foraging behaviour of pollinators is poorly understood. Using artificial flowers in tightly-controlled laboratory settings, we examined the effects of the alkaloid nicotine on bumblebee foraging performance. We found that bumblebees confronted simultaneously with two equally rewarded nicotine-containing and nicotine-free flower types are deterred only by unnaturally high nicotine concentrations. This deterrence disappears or even turns into attraction at lower nectar-relevant concentrations. The alkaloid has profound effects on learning in a dose-dependent manner. At a high natural dose, bees learn the colour of a nicotine-containing flower type more swiftly than a flower type with the same caloric value but without nicotine. Furthermore, after experiencing flowers containing nicotine in any tested concentration, increasing numbers of bumblebees stay more faithful to these flowers, even if they become a suboptimal choice in terms of reward. These results demonstrate that alkaloids enhance polli...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 4, 2018·Frontiers in Plant Science·Massimo NepiStefano Mancuso
Jun 17, 2020·Royal Society Open Science·Felicity MuthAnne S Leonard
Apr 27, 2018·Frontiers in Physiology·Michael Wink
Aug 31, 2018·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Andres N ArceRichard J Gill
Nov 18, 2020·Scientific Reports·Daniele CarlessoDavid Baracchi
Oct 20, 2020·Current Opinion in Insect Science·Jacob S FrancisAnne S Leonard
Nov 30, 2021·Plant Molecular Biology·Ivan Sestari, Marcelo Lattarulo Campos

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
chips

Software Mentioned

R Development Core Team
R lme4
R package multcomp
R

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