A New Twist on an Old Story: Pollination and Seed Predation in Jadera haematoloma

AbstractPollinating seed predators are partners in a specialized plant-insect mutualism where insects pollinate the flower ovules of the seeds that they later consume. Such relationships have proven rare but provide a unique perspective on the mechanisms that drive (co)evolution. We combine natural history and community science observations to identify the red-shouldered bug (Jadera haematoloma) as the first member of the insect order Hemiptera to be classified in this guild. We use laboratory- and field-based experiments to demonstrate that J. haematoloma are consuming nectar and providing a pollination service for their host plants. However, the pollination benefit to the host is later reduced by seed predation from the pollinator's offspring. Furthermore, this study expands our perspective on the diet breadth of J. haematoloma, which is a model system for rapid ecological adaptation of feeding morphology that was historically attributed solely to selective pressures associated with accessing the seeds inside the fruit of their host plant.