Schaefer and Ruxton recently reviewed the mechanisms involved in plant deception, with an emphasis on pollination [1]. They proposed that generalised food deception evolves if plants exploit the innate preferences of pollinators, and thus represents a form of exploitation of perceptual biases (EPB). They contrast this with floral mimicry, which is viewed as a distinct phenomenon that might orig...

The first web conference on sunflower–pollinator interactions gathered the international community around a major topic for sunflower productivity and ecosystemic biodiversity. Insect-mediated pollination is important increasing seed yield, but dependent environmental factors. Climate change can impact sunflower-pollinator by influencing both plant pollinator behavior. Natural or artificially e...

There is evidence that in Europe and North America many species of pollinators are in decline, both in abundance and distribution. Although there is a long list of potential causes of this decline, there is concern that neonicotinoid insecticides, in particular through their use as seed treatments are, at least in part, responsible. This paper describes a project that set out to summarize the n...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are uniquely vulnerable to nontarget pesticide impacts because, as ubiquitous managed pollinators, they are deliberately transported into areas where crops are grown with pesticides. Moreover, attributes making them excellent managed pollinators, including large long-lived colonies and complex behavior, also make them challenging subjects for toxicity bioassays. For ...

1 There is mounting evidence of pollinator decline all over the world and consequences in many 2 agricultural areas could be significant. We assessed these consequences by measuring 1) the 3 contribution of insect pollination to the world agricultural output economic value, and 2) the 4 vulnerability of world agriculture in the face of pollinator decline. We used a bioeconomic 5 approach, which...

1. The evolution of flowering plants has undoubtedly been influenced by a pollinator's ability to learn to associate floral signals with food. Here, we address the question of 'why' flowers produce scent by examining the ways in which olfactory learning by insect pollinators could influence how floral scent emission evolves in plant populations. 2. Being provided with a floral scent signal allo...

Insect pollinator community dynamics in established turfgrass systems is a topic of continuing study. This research examines abundance and diversity two environments (golf courses home lawns) whether populations are affected by the establishment pollinator-friendly habitat. Sites adjacent to managed green spaces were selected based on site suitability for management monitored monthly from July ...

As part of a research project on the food deception strategy in Orchis militaris (L.), the objective of this study was to identify insect visitors and potential pollinators of this orchid species in Belgium. In 2013, insects were collected over 2 d per site in five localities distributed in Southern Belgium (Wallonia). A total of 104 insects belonging to 49 species were caught. Dipterans were t...

In this work, we studied the main characteristics of flowering, reproductive system and diversity of pollinators for the biofuel plant Jatropha curcas (L.) in a site of tropical southeastern Mexico, within its center of origin. The plants were monoecious with inflorescences of unisexual flowers. The male flowers produced from 3062-5016 pollen grains (266-647 per anther). The plants produced fru...

"The aim of the present work is to determine harmful and beneficial insects associated with tomato greenhouse cultivation in arid region El-Outaya (Biskra, Algeria). Insect trapping was conducted using yellow water plates glue traps. Faunistic data have revealed presence 2754 individuals distributed on seven orders, 33 families 38 species insects. From specific point view, majority these were r...