Experimental Florivory Influences Reproductive Success in the Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

TL;DR

Flower-eating insects reduce the reproductive success of field bindweed by damaging flowers and making them less attractive to pollinators.

Contribution

This study demonstrates that florivory directly reduces reproductive success in field bindweed through altered pollinator behavior.

Findings

Flowers with experimental damage had significantly lower reproductive success compared to intact flowers.

Naïve bumblebees did not show a preference for undamaged flowers in laboratory experiments.

Florivory reduces flower attractiveness, potentially impacting pollination success.

Abstract

Florivory is the consumption or damage of flowers by herbivorous animals. It can directly affect plant fitness by damaging reproductive organs or indirectly by negatively influencing flower attractiveness to pollinators. We investigated florivory in field bindweed Convolvulus arvensis L. (Convolvulaceae) by combining data from natural surveys, experimental damage, and laboratory experiments on flower preferences of florivores. Surveys showed that flowers suffer damage from predators, including Leptophyes albovittata Kollar (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), which causes partial corolla damage, and from unknown predators that cause holes in the corolla. Experimentally damaged flowers had significantly lower reproductive success (number of seeds and proportion of total reproductive failure) than intact flowers. However, laboratory experiments with naïve bumblebees Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) failed to detect a preference for undamaged flowers. This may be because B. terrestris is not a frequent pollinator of C. arvensis at our field sites, and naïve foragers, lacking prior experience, had not learned to associate corolla damage with reduced floral rewards. Our research shows that florivory negatively impacts C. arvensis reproductive success by altering pollinator behavior through reduced flower attractiveness.

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