Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features

Abstract Many plants defend themselves against herbivores by chemical deterrents in their tissues and the presence of such substances in floral nectar means that pollinators often encounter them when foraging. The effect of such substances on the foraging behaviour of pollinators is poorly understoo...

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Autores principales:	D. Baracchi, A. Marples, A. J. Jenkins, A. R. Leitch, L. Chittka
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2017
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b89211a8410846caa921fe96e122f7d6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b89211a8410846caa921fe96e122f7d62021-12-02T15:06:00ZNicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features10.1038/s41598-017-01980-12045-2322https://doaj.org/article/b89211a8410846caa921fe96e122f7d62017-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-01980-1https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Many plants defend themselves against herbivores by chemical deterrents in their tissues and the presence of such substances in floral nectar means that pollinators often encounter them when foraging. The effect of such substances on the foraging behaviour of pollinators is poorly understood. Using artificial flowers in tightly-controlled laboratory settings, we examined the effects of the alkaloid nicotine on bumblebee foraging performance. We found that bumblebees confronted simultaneously with two equally rewarded nicotine-containing and nicotine-free flower types are deterred only by unnaturally high nicotine concentrations. This deterrence disappears or even turns into attraction at lower nectar-relevant concentrations. The alkaloid has profound effects on learning in a dose-dependent manner. At a high natural dose, bees learn the colour of a nicotine-containing flower type more swiftly than a flower type with the same caloric value but without nicotine. Furthermore, after experiencing flowers containing nicotine in any tested concentration, increasing numbers of bumblebees stay more faithful to these flowers, even if they become a suboptimal choice in terms of reward. These results demonstrate that alkaloids enhance pollinator flower constancy, opening new perspectives in co-evolutionary process between plants and pollinators.D. BaracchiA. MarplesA. J. JenkinsA. R. LeitchL. ChittkaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q D. Baracchi A. Marples A. J. Jenkins A. R. Leitch L. Chittka Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
description	Abstract Many plants defend themselves against herbivores by chemical deterrents in their tissues and the presence of such substances in floral nectar means that pollinators often encounter them when foraging. The effect of such substances on the foraging behaviour of pollinators is poorly understood. Using artificial flowers in tightly-controlled laboratory settings, we examined the effects of the alkaloid nicotine on bumblebee foraging performance. We found that bumblebees confronted simultaneously with two equally rewarded nicotine-containing and nicotine-free flower types are deterred only by unnaturally high nicotine concentrations. This deterrence disappears or even turns into attraction at lower nectar-relevant concentrations. The alkaloid has profound effects on learning in a dose-dependent manner. At a high natural dose, bees learn the colour of a nicotine-containing flower type more swiftly than a flower type with the same caloric value but without nicotine. Furthermore, after experiencing flowers containing nicotine in any tested concentration, increasing numbers of bumblebees stay more faithful to these flowers, even if they become a suboptimal choice in terms of reward. These results demonstrate that alkaloids enhance pollinator flower constancy, opening new perspectives in co-evolutionary process between plants and pollinators.
format	article
author	D. Baracchi A. Marples A. J. Jenkins A. R. Leitch L. Chittka
author_facet	D. Baracchi A. Marples A. J. Jenkins A. R. Leitch L. Chittka
author_sort	D. Baracchi
title	Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
title_short	Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
title_full	Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
title_fullStr	Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
title_full_unstemmed	Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
title_sort	nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/b89211a8410846caa921fe96e122f7d6
work_keys_str_mv	AT dbaracchi nicotineinfloralnectarpharmacologicallyinfluencesbumblebeelearningoffloralfeatures AT amarples nicotineinfloralnectarpharmacologicallyinfluencesbumblebeelearningoffloralfeatures AT ajjenkins nicotineinfloralnectarpharmacologicallyinfluencesbumblebeelearningoffloralfeatures AT arleitch nicotineinfloralnectarpharmacologicallyinfluencesbumblebeelearningoffloralfeatures AT lchittka nicotineinfloralnectarpharmacologicallyinfluencesbumblebeelearningoffloralfeatures
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Nicotine in floral nectar pharmacologically influences bumblebee learning of floral features

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