Stefan Vogel

Bat pollination ofEncholirium glaziovii, a terrestrial bromeliad

The many-flowered, brush-like spikes ofEncholirium glaziovii, a ground-dwelling pitcairnioid bromeliad of the “campo rupestre” formation of southeastern Brazil, was observed being pollinated by the glossophagine bat,Lonchophylla bokermanni, in the Serra do Cipó (Minas Gerais). Nectar feeding was while hovering, and the pollen was preferentially transferred by the bats snout. The floral pattern is chiropterophilous; unlike known tillandsioid bat flowers, stamens and style are protrusive beyond a small, persistent perigon, and anthesis, apparently protogynous, extends over several nights, with gradual onset and cease. Although various other flower-visitingChiroptera are known to occur in the area and are not mechanically precluded from exploitingEncholirium glaziovii, no one seems to compete withLonchophylla bokermanni. This species, a trap-liner, habitually forages in open habitats, a possible reason for its exclusiveness.—Flower details of two other species ofEncholirium from the same locality including one with the bat pollination syndrome, are given.

The perfume flowers ofCyphomandra (Solanaceae): Pollination by euglossine bees, bellows mechanism, osmophores, and volatiles

The perfume syndrome and pollination by fragrance-collecting euglossine bees in the neotropic solanaceous genusCyphomandra was confirmed by field observations. In SE Brazil,C. sciadostylis was visited byEufriesea violaceae, andC. diploconos byEuglossa mandibularis; C. hartwegii was pollinated byEulaema meriana in Costa Rica. The primary attractant, fragrant droplets that ooze from the dorsally bulged connectives, is mopped up by the males with the forebasitarsi. Thereby, the poricidal thecae are inadvertently pushed causing the dry pollen to dust the bees sternum. The number and direction of the pollen jets are related to pollinator size and stigma structure. The flowers are homogamous, selfsterile, and last three days. The androecium is optically non-contrasting or has cryptic colour. Flowers ofC. sciadostylis andC. diploconos undergo a colour change and an almost three-fold increase in corolla size when scent production and visits cease. The dorsal papillar epidermis of the connective is underlain by a glandular parenchyma typical of osmophores. GC techniques revealed germacrene D as the main component in the mentholic scent ofC. sciadostylis, ipsdienol, heneicosane, and tricosane as dominant in the nutmeg-like scent ofC. diploconos, and benzyl acetate and benzyl alcohol in the sweet fragrance ofC. hartwegii. In all cases, these were accompanied by numerous minor components of heterogeneous chemical nature.—Pollen release by means of a peculiar pneumatic bellows mechanism appears as a necessary and probably ubiquitous feature ofCyphomandra. Even a slight pressure exerted upon the thin, elastic thecal walls blows pollen jets through the pores. Unusual anatomic changes accompany anther maturation. Initially voluminous parenchymatic locular intumescences (placentoids) contract completely during meiosis, then expand once more when the pollen is ripe, pushing the grains against the locular wall, and contract a second time, allowing air to enter the thecae.—Cyphomandra pinetorum was found to be exceptional in exhibiting a pollen flower syndrome, and not cryptical but optically contrasting yellow anthers, as known forSolanum.

Pollination of four sympatric species ofAngelonia (Scrophulariaceae) by oil-collecting bees in NE. Brazil

The manner whereby the oil-producing bisaccate flowers ofAngelonia (Scrophulariaceae) are pollinated by female oil-collecting bees is reported for the first time. Observations were made in the Caatinga formation of Pernambuco, NE. Brazil, on four synchronopatric species. These differ in sizes and structural details of the corolla, level of flower exposition, and habitat preferences. All legitimate visitors wereCentris spp. (Anthophoridae):Angelonia hirta was mainly pollinated byC. fuscata andA. pubescens byC. hyptidis; A. bisaccata andA. hookeriana shared an unidentified species. Several exomalopsine, tetrapediine and meliponid bees exploit the flowers less descriminately for oil or pollen, respectively, without regularly contacting anthers and stigma. The flowers are protandrous, and are self-incompatible except those of the annualA. pubescens. After alighting, theCentris bees introduce their front legs simultaneously into each of the pouches and start alternate collecting movements to gather the oil from the trichome elaiophores. While doing so, they are forced by projections of the corolla floor to press their head under the anthers and stigma, whereby pollen is transferred with their frons or clypeus. On account of their collector type and behaviour,C. fuscata andC. spec. are not specialized toAngelonia but may equally exploit other nonrelated taxa for oil, whereasC. hyptidis exhibits oligolecty onA. pubescens. It possesses relatively elongate forelegs with padlike collectors suitable for sweeping the lipids from the scattered glandular hairs inside the divergent spurs of its host. It is the only species that also collects pollen (by buzzing) from the oil host.A. hirta and relatives, provided with dense elaiophore carpets, are, for their part, adapted to “scraping”Centris species with typical oil collectors. Flower and bee phenologies, although largely dependent on the irregular rainfalls, are not always coincident.

Fledermausblumen in Südamerika

I. Zur Chiropterophi l ie in Mittelu n d Sfidamerika al lgemein . . . . . . . . 492 1. Ube rb l i ck fiber die b isher igen K e n n t n i s s e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492 2. Die Glossophaginen als B lumenf leder t i e re Amer ikas . . . . . . . . . 494 3. Zur Methode der n / icht l ichen B e o b a c h t u n g u n d P h o t o g r a p h i e 497 4. Der Anf lug der Best/~uber zur B1/ite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498 5. Das Verha l t en der F lede rm~use im M o m e n t des Blfi tenbesuchs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500 6. Zur E r k e n n u n g der Chi ropterophi l ie ; ihr Verhi i l tnis zu Format ion , K l i m a u n d W u c h s f o r m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Christian Konrad Sprengel’s Theory of the Flower: The Cradle of Floral Ecology

As the plant taxonomist Karl Suessenguth once wrote, there are two kinds of discoveries: Detecting a thing nobody has seen before, or thinking what no one has thought before about something that everybody sees. A discovery of the second kind, and one of great moments in our science, was Sprengel’s theory of the flower. This theory clearly expressed for the first time the notion that flowers are designed for the transmission of pollen by foreign vectors, that is, animals or wind, and they can be understood only from this perspective.

The pollination syndrome ofDeplanchea tetraphylla (Bignoniaceae)

The reproductive structures ofDeplanchea tetraphylla (Bignoniaceae) exhibit a significant number of unusual features: inflorescence with an apical “platform”; flowers yellow, short-tubed, strongly zygomorphic; mouth closed through lateral compression; stamens and style long-exserted, erect or slightly reclined; nectar dark brown, exposed in the spoon-shaped lowermost corolla lobe and apparently acting also as a visual cue. These features suggest a highly elaborate syndrome for bird pollination: the birds (probably lorikeets) perch on the inflorescence platform and bend downwards to take up the exposed nectar, thus touching the exserted anthers and stigmas with the throat or breast. The likely evolution of this syndrome by additive steps, effecting a change from “head up” to “head down” position of the pollinator, can be traced from the floral structure of the remaining four species of the genus.

Über synorganisierte Blütensporne bei einigen Orchideen

Es werden einige Orchideenblüten mit Spornbildungen besprochen, die durch Synorganisation (Koaptation) heterogener Perigonteile entstehen. 1. Bei einigenRodriguezia-Arten bildet sich das nektarführende Spornorgan aus den verwachsenen und mit ihren freien Längsrändern scheidenförmig zusammenneigenden seitlichen Sepalen, die einen sezernierenden hypopeltaten Labellumfortsatz umschließen. 2. BeiBatemania, Cochleanthes undChondrorhyncha formt sich jedes der seitlichen Sepalen getrennt durch Längsfaltung zu je einem Scheinsporn. Das Spornpaar, durch Eigensekretion nektarführend oder mit Safthaaren ausgekleidet, korrespondiert mit dem Blüteninnern. 3. Der Nektarapparat vonComparettia undNeokoehleria entsteht durch Koaptation eines aus dem Sepalenpaar gebildeten echten Sporns und nectarogenen Anhängen des Labellums. 4. Der Sporn vonCryptocentrum ist als kongenitale, einseitige Verwachsung eines Lippensporns mit der Innenwand eines aus den seitlichen Sepalen zusammengesetzten Sporns aufzufassen. Bei einigenRodriguezia-Arten bildet sich das nektarführende Spornorgan aus den verwachsenen und mit ihren freien Längsrändern scheidenförmig zusammenneigenden seitlichen Sepalen, die einen sezernierenden hypopeltaten Labellumfortsatz umschließen. BeiBatemania, Cochleanthes undChondrorhyncha formt sich jedes der seitlichen Sepalen getrennt durch Längsfaltung zu je einem Scheinsporn. Das Spornpaar, durch Eigensekretion nektarführend oder mit Safthaaren ausgekleidet, korrespondiert mit dem Blüteninnern. Der Nektarapparat vonComparettia undNeokoehleria entsteht durch Koaptation eines aus dem Sepalenpaar gebildeten echten Sporns und nectarogenen Anhängen des Labellums. Der Sporn vonCryptocentrum ist als kongenitale, einseitige Verwachsung eines Lippensporns mit der Innenwand eines aus den seitlichen Sepalen zusammengesetzten Sporns aufzufassen.

A floral biologist's past fifty years: some thoughts and experiences

Recent focus on plant-insect associations during the angiosperm radiation from the last 30 million years of the Early Cretaceous has inadvertently de-emphasized a similar but earlier diversification that occurred among gymnosperms. The existence of gymnosperm-insect associations during the preangiospermous Mesozoic is evidenced by mouthparts capable of reaching and imbibing pollination drops or similar fluids, availability of pollen types consistent with entomophily, and opportunities for related consumption of pollen, seeds, and reproductively associated tissues in major seed-plant groups, namely seed ferns, conifers, cycads, bennettitaleans, and gnetaleans. Based on stereotypical plant damage, head-adherent pollen, gut contents, wing structure, mouthpart morphology and insect damage to plant reproductive organs, the likely nectarivores, pollinivores and pollinators were orthopterans, phasmatodeans, webspinners, sawflies and wasps, moths, beetles, mecopteroids, and true flies. These associations are ranked from possible to probable although the last three insect clades provide the strongest evidence for pollinator activity. We document two mid Cretaceous examples of these associations-cycadeoideaceous bennettitaleans and beetles and a cheirolepidiaceous conifer and flies-for which there are multiple lines of evidence for insect consumption of plant reproductive tissues but also pollination mutualisms. These data highlight the independent origin of a major phase of plant-insect pollinator-related associations during the mid Mesozoic that served as a prelude for the separate, iterative and later colonization of angiosperms.

Pollination neotropischer Orchideen durch duftstoff-hselnde Prachtbienen-Mnnchen

die G lucosekonzen t r a t ion i nne rha lb yon T u m o r e n in AbhXngigkei t yon der Ve r so rgungsan l age u m m e h r als eine Zehner po tenz s c h w a n k e n kann . Es is t dahe r d a m i t zu rechnen , dab ffir besonders sch lech t ve r sorg te Bereiche der Krebsgeschwf i l s t e (und solche di i r f ten f a s t s t e t s v o r h a n d e n sein) der Sch~d igungs m e c h a n i s m u s m i t A u s h u n g e r u n g maB gebend wird. Die Geschwuls tbere iche m i t sch lech te r Versorgungs lage dfirft en d u t c h eine I t y p e r t h e r m i e m i t s t a rk e r h 6 h t e m Glucosespiegel a u c h schon deswegen t h e r a p e u t i s c h n i ch t voll erfaBt werden, weil die Ze i tdaue r der kf ins t l ichen Glucosespiegels te iger u n g kle iner is t als die Z e i t k o n s t a n t e des Glucose-Milchs~ureA u s t a u s c h e s zwischen Kre i s l auf u n d diesen R ~ u m e n (vA > 100 min) . Als Ausweg aus dieser S i tua t i on b ie te t s ich folgende F o r m der E x t r e m H y p e r t h e r m i e an : Au/teilung des Extrem-Hyperthermie-Schrittes in zwei Teilabschnitte (mit reduziertem bzw. erh6htem Blut-Glucosespiegel), die z .B. m i t Rt icks ich t au f die P a t i e n t e n b e l a s t u n g den Z e i t a b s t a n d y o n einigen T a g e n haben , evtl . abe r a u c h bet e iner e inzigen E x t r e m H y p e r t h e r m i e b e h a n d h i n g ve rwi rk l i ch t we rden k 6 n n e n (s. u.). Vor d e m e rs ten T e i l a b s c h n i t t wird der Bhi t -Ghicosesp iege l z .B. du rch k0hleh y d r a t a r m e K o s t u n d In su l i ngabe so weft abgesenkt , dab wiihr end des e r s t en A b s c h n i t t e s der E x t r e m t t y p e r t h e r m i e COk(K ~ 50 mg% wird. Diese M i n d e r u n g soil wegen des hohen rA-Wertes s chon e twa 10 Std vor d e m ers ten Te i l abschn i t t e inges teuer t werden. D u r c h ein solches Vorgehen wfirde die Glucoseversorg u n g der Bereiche sch lech te r Versorgungs lage u m e twa den Faktor 3 gegenfiber H y p e r t h e r m i e ohne Glucosegabe u n d u m e twa den F a k t o r I 0 gegenfiber H y p e r t h e r m i e m i t Glucosegabe versch lech te r t werden . Die Auss i ch t en fiir eine i r revers ible Sch

Parfümsammelnde Bienen als Bestäuber von Orchidaceen undGloxinia

d igung dieser T u m o r b e r e i c h e du rch A u s h u n g e r u n g mfiBten aus dieser S ieh t sehr e rhebl ich z u n e h m e n . Zur E r h 6 h u n g der Belas tungsf /~higkei t des P a t i e n t e n wird es s ich empfeh len , wShrend der A n l a u f p h a s e des e rs ten H y p e r t h e r m i e a b s c h n i t t e s berei ts den Bhi t -Glucosesp iege l wieder zu normal is ie ren . W e g e n der h o h e n A u s t a u s c h z e i t k o n s t a n t e ~A k a n n diese Steige rung y o n COk(K ) s ich n i ch t m e h r w~hrend dieses A h s c h n i t t e s in den Gewebebere ichen sch lech te r Versorgungs lage auswirken . Vor u n d w~hrend des zwei ten A b s c h n i t t e s der E x t r e m H y p e r t h e r m i e wird der Blu t -Glucosesp iege l gem~13 d e m Irf iheren Vorsch lag [g] so weft vergrSl3ert, wie die N a t u r e s in dieser P h a s e m i t h in re i chend ge r i ngem Pa t i en t en r i s iko er laubt . D u r c h d iesen zwei ten t t y p e r t h e r m i e a b s c h n i t t we rden d a n n jene Bereiche des T u m o r s u n d der M e t a s t a s e n bevo rzug t gesehSdigt , welche fiber eine gu t e Versorgungs lage verffigen. Diese E x t r e m H y p e r t h e r m i e in zwei T e i l ab schn i t t en dfirf te wegen der groBen Un t e r s ch i ede der A u s t a u s c h z e i t e n ~A evt l . sogar ohne zeit l iche T r e n n u n g der Te i l abschn i t t e ve rwi rk l i ch t werden k6nnen , w e n n m a n w~hrend der A n l a u f p h a s e de r E x t r e m H y p e r t h e r m i e den anf~ngl ich n iedr igen Ghicosespiegel s t a rk he rau f se t z t . D a n n wfirde ffir die Tumorze l l en schlechte r Ver so rgungs lage der T e i l a b s c h n i t t t u h d ffir die T u m o r zetlen g u t e r Ver so rgungs l age der T e i l ab schn i t t 2 n u t m i t ger inger zei t l icher Ve rz6ge rung bet e iner e inzigen E x t r e m H y p e r t h e r m i e b e h a n d h i n g ve rwi rk l i ch t werden .