Inconsistent annual compensation for floral herbivory by an iterocarpic thistle

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie M. West ◽  
Svata M. Louda
Keyword(s):  
Floral Herbivory

Interactions among nectar robbing, floral herbivory, and ant protection inLinaria vulgaris

Oikos ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 110 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Newman ◽  
James D. Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Nectar Robbing ◽  
Floral Herbivory

scholarly journals Floral herbivory of an invasive slug on a native weed

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 151-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Honěk ◽  
Z. Martinková
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Seed Dispersal ◽  
Taraxacum Officinale ◽  
Herbaceous Plants ◽  
Floral Herbivory ◽  
Arion Lusitanicus ◽  
Seedling Predation

Effects of floral herbivory (grazing flowers) by slugs on production and quality of seeds of herbaceous plants have been rarely quantified. We studied consequences of grazing by an invasive slug Arion lusitanicus (Mabille) for inflorescences of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale Weber ex Wiggers). In May 2008, a grassy site in Prague-Ruzyně (Czech Republic) was densely populated by dandelion inflorescences. Of the 40% of the flowers grazed by the slug, 70% died before seed dispersal and seed was eaten from 10% of the closed mature inflorescences. Viability of seeds from inflorescences that survived slug grazing was not affected. In addition to seedling predation, grazing of flowers may be an important source of dandelion mortality at sites where this slug is abundant.

scholarly journals The benefits of bathing buds: water calyces protect flowers from a microlepidopteran herbivore

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane E Carlson ◽  
Kyle E Harms
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Floral Herbivory ◽  
Flower Production ◽  
Egg Deposition ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
Plant Flower

Protective floral structures may evolve in response to the negative effects of floral herbivores. For example, water calyces—liquid-filled, cup-like structures resulting from the fusion of sepals—may reduce floral herbivory by submerging buds during their development. Our observations of a water-calyx plant, Chrysothemis friedrichsthaliana (Gesneriaceae), revealed that buds were frequently attacked by ovipositing moths (Alucitidae), whose larvae consumed anthers and stigmas before corollas opened. Almost 25% of per-plant flower production was destroyed by alucitid larvae over two seasons, far exceeding the losses to all other floral herbivores combined. Experimental manipulation of water levels in calyces showed that a liquid barrier over buds halved per-flower alucitid egg deposition and subsequent herbivory, relative to buds in calyces without water. Thus, C. friedrichsthaliana 's water calyx helps protect buds from a highly detrimental floral herbivore. Our findings support claims that sepal morphology is largely influenced by selection to reduce floral herbivory, and that these pressures can result in novel morphological adaptations.

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