Notes On The Pollination Biology Of Notylia Nemorosa (orchidaceae): Do Pollinators Necessarily Promote Cross Pollination?

The pollination biology of Notylia nemorosa was elucidated from field and ex situ observations. Field obser- vations were carried out in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, where this orchid is pollinated by males of Eulaema nigrita (Euglossini). Plants cultivated in Campinas (São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil) were eventually pollinated by males of Eulaema nigrita and Euglossa melanothricha (Euglossini). In both cases, Euglossini males collect aromatic compounds produced on the surface of the lip, fix the pollinaria on the dorsal surface of the labrum and perform pollination. This species is protandrous. Recently opened flowers present their stigmatic surfaces blocked and thus flowers act only as pollen donors. After 2-3 days the viscidium dries out and pollinaria cannot be removed anymore. Then, a narrow slit opens in the stigmatic cavity, allowing pollen deposition. Experiments performed with cultivated plants suggest that this orchid species is strongly, though not completely self-incompatible. Pollination experiments showed that bees tend to stay several minutes in each inflorescence. This behavior may promote some degree of geitonogamous pollination because flowers in male and female phases coexist in the same inflorescence. The combination of self-incompatibility with this specific pollinator behavior may explain the rarity of fruits in several neotropical reward-offering Orchidaceae.11611925Dressler, R.L., Biology of the orchid bees (Euglossini) (1982) Annu Rev Ecol Syst, 13, pp. 373-394Dressler, R.L., (1993) Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family, , Dioscorides Press, Portland, OreEltz, T., Whitlen, W.M., Roubik, D.W., Lisenmair, K.E., Fragrance collection, storage and accumulation by individual male orchid bees (1999) J Chem Ecol, 25, pp. 157-176Johansen, B.O., Incompatibility in Dendrobium (1990) Bot J Linn Soc, 103, pp. 165-196Kimsey, S.L., The behavior of male orchid bees (Apidae, Hymenoptera, Insecta) and the question of leks (1980) Anim Behav, 28, pp. 996-1004Lunau, K., Evolutionary aspects of perfume collection in male Euglossine bees (Hymenoptera) and of nest deception in bee-pollinated flowers (1992) Chemoecology, 3, pp. 65-73Martin, F.W., Staining and observing pollen tubes in the style by means of fluorescence (1959) Stain Technol, 34, pp. 125-128Neiland, M.R., Wilcock, C.C., Fruit set, nectar reward and rarity in the Orchidaceae (1998) Am J Bot, 85, pp. 1657-1671Ollerton, J., Liede, S., Pollination systems in the Asclepiadaceae: A survey and preliminary analysis (1997) Biol J Linn Soc, 62, pp. 593-610Pabst, G.F.J., Dungs, F., (1977) Orchidaceae brasiliensis II, , Brücke Verlag Kurt Schmersow, HildesheimPridgeon, A., (1992) The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids, , Timber Press. OregonRoubik, D.W., Ackerman, J.D., Long-term ecology of Euglossine orchid-bees in Panama (1987) Oecologia, 73, pp. 321-333Schmidt-Adam, G., Young, A.G., Murray, B.G., Low outcrossing rates and shift in pollinators in New Zealand pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa: Myrtaceae) (2000) Am J Bot, 87, pp. 1265-1271Singer, R.B., The pollination biology of Sauroglossum elatum Lindl. (Orchidaceae: Spiranthinae): Moth-pollination and protandry in neotropical Spiranthinae (2002) Bot J Linn Soc, 138, pp. 9-16Singer, R.B., Sazima, M., Flower morphology and pollination mechanism in three sympatric Goodyerinae orchids from south-eastern Brazil (2001) Ann Bot, 88, pp. 989-997Singer, R.B., Sazima, M., The pollination mechanism in three sympatric Prescottia (Orchidaceae: Prescottinae) species in South-eastern Brazil (2001) Ann Bot, 88, pp. 999-1005Sokal, R.R., Rohlf, F.J., (1969) Biometry. The Principles of Statistic in Biological Research, , Freeman, San FranciscoVan Der Cingel, N.A., (2001) An Atlas of Orchid Pollination. America, Africa, Asia and Australia, , Balkema, RotterdamVan Der Pijl, L., Dodson, C.H., (1966) Orchid Flowers. Their Pollination and Evolution, , University of Miami Press, Coral GablesWartord, N., Pollination biology: The reciprocal agreement between Notylia and Euglossa viridisiima (1992) Am Orchid Soc Bull, 61, pp. 885-889Williams, N.H., The biology of orchids and Euglossine bees (1982) Orchid Biology: Reviews and Perspectives, 2, pp. 120-171. , Arditti J (ed). Comstock, Ithac