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Updated: Oct 1, 2026

Field Experiments of Pollination Ecology: The Case of Lycoris sanguinea var. sanguinea
Published on: November 25, 2016
[Structure of coadaptive complex of forest entomophylous plants with broad spectrum of pollinators]
G M Dlusskiĭ1, N V Lavrova, K P Glazunova
1Dep. of Theory of Evolution and Dep. of Botany, Biological Faculty, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow University, Moscow 119899, Russia. dlussky@dlyss.msk.ru
Abstract:
Pollinators of common forest entomophylous plants were studied at 1982-1985 near Zvenigorod biological station (Moscow region) and at 1989-1993 near Torma (Jogeva maakond, Estonia). The comparative analysis of spectra of pollinators has allowed to distinguish five groups (subcomplexes) of plants characterized by dominance of different groups of pollinators: myiophylous (flies from superfamily Muscoidea dominate), syrphidophylous (flies from family Syrphidae dominate), nonspecialized melittophylous (Apoidea, mainly bumblebees, dominate), psychophylous (butterflies dominate), and cantharophylous (beetles dominate). The belonging of plants to concrete subcomplex is determined by the morphology of flowers and influorescences, but in some cases habitat and time of blooming are also important. From year to year the composition of pollinators of the same plant species varies because of change in abundance of different groups of pollinators. However for long term these fluctuations are leveled off. External reproductive isolation of plants of myiophylous subcomplex is achieved mainly by spatial (ecological) and time (different time of flowering) isolations. However when two species of the same subcomplex grow together and their flowering time strongly overlap, there are some distinction in their pollinators reducing competition for pollinators.
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