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Evolution of UV reflection in bee- and bird-pollinated flowers
L C Oliveira1,2, V L G Brito3, K Lunau4
1Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
Plant Biology (Stuttgart, Germany)
|November 14, 2025
Summary
Floral UV reflection patterns evolved complexly, influenced by flower color and pollinator type. While red flowers support bee-avoidance, yellow flowers show reversed patterns, highlighting color-dependent selection in plant-pollinator interactions.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Botany
Background:
- Floral color is crucial for plant-pollinator interactions.
- UV reflection in flowers is hypothesized to evolve based on pollinator effectiveness.
- The bee-avoidance hypothesis predicts specific UV reflection patterns in bird- vs. bee-pollinated flowers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the macroevolutionary patterns of UV reflection in angiosperms.
- To assess how UV reflection relates to flower color and pollinator type.
- To test the bee-avoidance hypothesis across different floral hues.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 245 angiosperm species.
- Ancestral state reconstruction to infer evolutionary history.
- Comparative evolutionary models to analyze UV reflection patterns.
Main Results:
- Frequent evolutionary transitions in floral hue and UV reflection were observed.
- Red bee-pollinated flowers showed higher UV reflection than red bird-pollinated flowers, supporting UV's role in bee attraction.
- White and yellow bee-pollinated lineages exhibited higher evolutionary rates than bird-pollinated ones.
- Yellow bird-pollinated flowers unexpectedly displayed higher UV reflection optima than yellow bee-pollinated flowers.
- The bee-avoidance hypothesis was supported for red flowers but showed contrasting evidence for yellow flowers.
Conclusions:
- Both attraction and exclusion mechanisms drive the macroevolution of floral UV reflection.
- Floral UV reflection evolution is complex and color-dependent.
- Findings challenge simple predictions of the bee-avoidance hypothesis across all flower colors.
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