The normalized segment classification model: A new tool to compare spectral reflectance curves.

Color patterns are complex traits under selective pressures from conspecifics, mutualists, and antagonists. To evaluate the salience of a pattern or the similarity between colors, several visual models are available. Color discrimination models estimate the perceptual difference between any two colors.

Flower Conspicuousness to Bees Across Pollination Systems: A Generalized Test of the Bee-Avoidance Hypothesis.

Flower signals of bee- and bird-pollinated plants have converged pollinator-mediated evolution, driven by the visual system of their respective pollinators. For bird flowers, sensory exclusion of less effective bees is also important and such exclusion is also mediated by floral morphological filters. Likewise, other systems based on pollination by red-sensitive insects are also associated with red flowers displaying lower short-wavelength secondary peaks of reflectance, which decreases detectability to animals that are less sensitive to red, such as bees.

Temporal changes in the most effective pollinator of a bromeliad pollinated by bees and hummingbirds.

A generalist pollination system may be characterized through the interaction of a plant species with two or more functional groups of pollinators. The spatiotemporal variation of the most effective pollinator is the factor most frequently advocated to explain the emergence and maintenance of generalist pollination systems. There are few studies merging variation in floral visitor assemblages and the efficacy of pollination by different functional groups.

Multimodal cues provide redundant information for bumblebees when the stimulus is visually salient, but facilitate red target detection in a naturalistic background.

Our understanding of how floral visitors integrate visual and olfactory cues when seeking food, and how background complexity affects flower detection is limited. Here, we aimed to understand the use of visual and olfactory information for bumblebees (Bombus terrestris terrestris L.) when seeking flowers in a visually complex background.

Learning in two butterfly species when using flowers of the tropical milkweed Asclepias curassavica: No benefits for pollination.

Premise Of The Study: The ability of insect visitors to learn to manipulate complex flowers has important consequences for foraging efficiency and plant fitness. We investigated learning by two butterfly species, Danaus erippus and Heliconius erato, as they foraged on the complex flowers of Asclepias curassavica, as well as the consequences for pollination.

Methods: To examine learning with respect to flower manipulation, butterflies were individually tested during four consecutive days under insectary conditions.