Klaus Lunau
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View article: Beyond Bees: Evidence of Bird Visitation and Putative Pollination in the Golden Lotus (Musella lasiocarpa)—One of the Six Buddhist Flowers—Through Field Surveys and Citizen Science
Beyond Bees: Evidence of Bird Visitation and Putative Pollination in the Golden Lotus (Musella lasiocarpa)—One of the Six Buddhist Flowers—Through Field Surveys and Citizen Science Open
Vertebrate pollination is widespread in Musaceae, with birds and bats serving as the main pollen vectors across the family. While these systems are typically well defined, the Golden Lotus (Musella lasiocarpa) has long been regarded as an …
View article: Bees, flowers and <scp>UV</scp>
Bees, flowers and <span>UV</span> Open
Ultraviolet light shining on flowers has various effects. In this review we assess functions of UV pigments and UV reflection patterns in flowers, including visual signalling by reflectance, fluorescence, and gloss, as well as protection a…
View article: All you always wanted to know about what a bee knows
All you always wanted to know about what a bee knows Open
What goes on in a bee’s mind? This book review examines What a Bee Knows by Stephen Buchman, a captivating exploration of bee cognition, memory, and emotions.
View article: It’s not easy being green. A commentary on ‘Green flowers need yellow to get noticed in a green world’
It’s not easy being green. A commentary on ‘Green flowers need yellow to get noticed in a green world’ Open
View article: Why are the inner and outer sides of many flower petals differently coloured?
Why are the inner and outer sides of many flower petals differently coloured? Open
The flower perianth has various, non‐mutually exclusive functions, such as visual signalling to pollinators and protecting the reproductive organs from the elements and from florivores, but how different perianth structures and their diffe…
View article: Pollen, anther, stamen, and androecium mimicry
Pollen, anther, stamen, and androecium mimicry Open
Floral colours represent a highly diverse communication signal mainly involved in flower visitors' attraction and guidance, but also flower discrimination, filtering non‐pollinators and discouraging floral antagonists. The divergent visual…
View article: Pollinator‐mediated plant coexistence requires high levels of pollinator specialization
Pollinator‐mediated plant coexistence requires high levels of pollinator specialization Open
In pollen‐limited plant communities, the foraging behavior of pollinators might mediate coexistence and competitive exclusion of plant species by determining which plants receive conspecific pollen. A key question is whether realistic poll…
View article: Pollenkitt is associated with the collectability of Malvoideae pollen for corbiculate bees
Pollenkitt is associated with the collectability of Malvoideae pollen for corbiculate bees Open
Pollen grains of Malvoideae (Malvaceae) which corbiculate bees cannot collect constitute a floral filter that excludes pollen-collecting bumble bees and honey bees from exploiting pollen resources. Although large, spiny pollen grains are i…
View article: Flowering phenology of species with similar flower colours in species-rich communities
Flowering phenology of species with similar flower colours in species-rich communities Open
View article: Flower symmetry in Saxifraga revisited
Flower symmetry in Saxifraga revisited Open
Monosymmetry in flowers has evolved many times from ancestors with polysymmetrical flowers. Flower symmetry characteristics often lack intraspecific variability. The genus Saxifraga represents an exception with high variations of floral sy…
View article: Pollinator-mediated plant coexistence requires high levels of pollinator specialization: supplementary material
Pollinator-mediated plant coexistence requires high levels of pollinator specialization: supplementary material Open
These data and R scripts accompany the paper titled "Pollinator-mediated plant coexistence requires high levels of pollinator specialization" accepted in the journal Ecology & Evolution. Here, we provide an R script that simulates…
View article: Mimicking orchids lure bees from afar with exaggerated ultraviolet signals
Mimicking orchids lure bees from afar with exaggerated ultraviolet signals Open
Flowers have many traits to appeal to pollinators, including ultraviolet (UV) absorbing markings, which are well‐known for attracting bees at close proximity (e.g., <1 m). While striking UV signals have been thought to attract pollinators …
View article: Associative colour learning and discrimination in the South African Cape rock sengi <i>Elephantulus edwardii</i> (Macroscelidea, Afrotheria, Mammalia)
Associative colour learning and discrimination in the South African Cape rock sengi <i>Elephantulus edwardii</i> (Macroscelidea, Afrotheria, Mammalia) Open
Beside insects, sengis also consume plant material such as leaves, fruits, seeds and floral nectar. It is known that they use olfaction for foraging, but little is known about their vision and visual learning capabilities. Colour vision ha…
View article: Comparative psychophysics of Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and stingless bee (Tetragonula carbonaria) colour purity and intensity perception
Comparative psychophysics of Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) and stingless bee (Tetragonula carbonaria) colour purity and intensity perception Open
Bees play a vital role as pollinators worldwide and have influenced how flower colour signals have evolved. The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera (Apini), and the Buff-tailed bumble bee, Bombus terrestris (Bombini) are well-studied model s…
View article: Mimicking orchids lure bees from afar with exaggerated ultraviolet signals
Mimicking orchids lure bees from afar with exaggerated ultraviolet signals Open
Flowers have many sensory traits to appeal to pollinators, including ultraviolet (UV) absorbing markings, which are well known for attracting bees at close proximity (e.g. < 1 m). While striking UV signals have been thought to attract poll…
View article: Dynamic monitoring of vital functions and tissue re-organization in Saturnia pavonia (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae) during final metamorphosis by non-invasive MRI
Dynamic monitoring of vital functions and tissue re-organization in Saturnia pavonia (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae) during final metamorphosis by non-invasive MRI Open
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the key whole-body imaging technology for observing processes within a living object providing excellent resolution and contrast between soft tissues. In the present work, we exploited the non-destructiv…
View article: Get There Early to Photograph Bats Pollinating Flowers in the Field
Get There Early to Photograph Bats Pollinating Flowers in the Field Open
Photo 1. Many bat-pollinated flowers begin their anthesis in the late afternoon, even before sunset, as illustrate by freshly opened Ceiba glaziovii (Malvaceae) flowers against the twilight sky (left panel). Due to a large amount of light …
View article: Ultraviolett – die unsichtbare Seite der Blumen
Ultraviolett – die unsichtbare Seite der Blumen Open
Blumen sind Kommunikationsstrukturen zwischen Blütenpflanzen und ihren Bestäubern. Dabei spielen visuelle Farbsignale eine herausragende Rolle. Da kein Bestäuber über ein dem Menschen ähnliches Farbsehsystem verfügt, beruht das Verstehen v…
View article: Flower Color Evolution and the Evidence of Pollinator-Mediated Selection
Flower Color Evolution and the Evidence of Pollinator-Mediated Selection Open
The evolution of floral traits in animal-pollinated plants involves the interaction between flowers as signal senders and pollinators as signal receivers. Flower colors are very diverse, effect pollinator attraction and flower foraging beh…
View article: Conical flower cells reduce surface gloss and improve colour signal integrity for free-flying bumblebees
Conical flower cells reduce surface gloss and improve colour signal integrity for free-flying bumblebees Open
Colour signals of flowers facilitate detection, spontaneous preference, discrimination and flower constancy by important bee pollinators. At short distances bees orient to floral colour patterns to find a landing platform and collect nutri…
View article: A bee’s eye view of remarkable floral colour patterns in the south-west Australian biodiversity hotspot revealed by false colour photography
A bee’s eye view of remarkable floral colour patterns in the south-west Australian biodiversity hotspot revealed by false colour photography Open
Background and Aims Colour pattern is a key cue of bee attraction selectively driving the appeal of pollinators. It comprises the main colour of the flower with extra fine patterns, indicating a reward focal point such as nectar, nectaries…
View article: Visibility and attractiveness of Fritillaria (Liliaceae) flowers to potential pollinators
Visibility and attractiveness of Fritillaria (Liliaceae) flowers to potential pollinators Open
Visual floral characters play an important role in shaping plant-pollinator interactions. The genus Fritillaria L. (Liliaceae), comprising approximately 140 species, is described as displaying a remarkable variety of flower colours and siz…
View article: Salvage of floral resources through re-absorption before flower abscission
Salvage of floral resources through re-absorption before flower abscission Open
Plants invest floral resources, including nectar and pigment, with likely consequent reproductive costs. We hypothesized that plants, whose flowers abscise with age, reabsorb nectar and pigment before abscission. This was tested with flowe…
View article: Selective attraction in bird-pollinated flowers. A commentary on: ‘Red flowers differ in shades between pollination systems and across continents’
Selective attraction in bird-pollinated flowers. A commentary on: ‘Red flowers differ in shades between pollination systems and across continents’ Open
This article comments on: Zhe Chen, Yang Niu, Chang-Qiu Liu and Hang Sun, Red flowers differ in shades between pollination systems and across continents, Annals of Botany, Volume 126, Issue 5, 9 October 2020, Pages 837–848, https://doi.org…
View article: A Comparative Study of Food Source Selection in Stingless Bees and Honeybees: Scent Marks, Location, or Color
A Comparative Study of Food Source Selection in Stingless Bees and Honeybees: Scent Marks, Location, or Color Open
In social bees, the choice of food sources is based on several factors, including scent marks, color, and location of flowers. Here, we used similar setups, in which two stingless bee species, Melipona subnitida and Plebeia flavo…
View article: Nectar mimicry: a new phenomenon
Nectar mimicry: a new phenomenon Open
Nectar is the most common floral reward for flower-visiting flies, bees, bats and birds. Many flowers hide nectar in the floral tube and preclude sensing of nectar by flower-visitors from a distance. Even in those flowers that offer easily…
View article: Morphological specialization of heterantherous <i>Rhynchanthera grandiflora</i> (Melastomataceae) accommodates pollinator diversity
Morphological specialization of heterantherous <i>Rhynchanthera grandiflora</i> (Melastomataceae) accommodates pollinator diversity Open
The tropical Melastomataceae are characterized by poricidal anthers which constitute a floral filter selecting for buzz‐pollinating bees. Stamens are often dimorphic, sometimes with discernible feeding and pollinating functions. Rhynchanth…
View article: Pollinator effectiveness of a specialist bee exploiting a generalist plant—tracking pollen transfer by Heriades truncorum with quantum dots
Pollinator effectiveness of a specialist bee exploiting a generalist plant—tracking pollen transfer by Heriades truncorum with quantum dots Open
View article: High innate preference of black substrate in the chive gnat, Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae)
High innate preference of black substrate in the chive gnat, Bradysia odoriphaga (Diptera: Sciaridae) Open
The chive gnat, Bradysia odoriphaga, is a notorious pest of Allium species in China. Colour trapping is an established method for monitoring and control of Bradysia species. In order to clarify the effect of colour preference of B. odoriph…
View article: Pollen grain morphology is not exclusively responsible for pollen collectability in bumble bees
Pollen grain morphology is not exclusively responsible for pollen collectability in bumble bees Open