Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T00:22:20.269Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pollination of Amorphophallus johnsonii (Araceae) by carrion beetles (Phaeochrous amplus) in a Ghanaian rain forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Daniel D. N. Beath
Daniel D. N. Beath
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Soil Science, St. Machar Drive, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK AB9 2UD
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Amorphophallus johnsonii (N. E. Brown) flowers during April in the main rainy season in Ghana. Anthesis starts at dusk with fluid oozing from the upper spadix accompanied by a strong aminoid odour. Just after dark large numbers of carrion beetles (Phaeochrous amplus) and occasional dung fly species (Hemigymnochaeta unicolor and Paryphodes tigrinus) visit the inflorescences. The beetles become trapped in the lower spathe overnight and remain in the spadix until the following evening. Between 1630 and 1645 h the following day, the anthers produce long threads of sticky pollen. The trapped beetles escape just after dark by crawling up the spadix, past the dehisced anthers and fly away from the spadix tip. Marked beetles were seen to transfer pollen from male phase to female phase inflorescences. Successful fertilisation was only effected if pollen was transferred on the same night from a male inflorescence 30 m or less away. Pollen is psilate and typical of beetle pollinated Araceae. Berries ripen approximately 70 d after fertilization and ripen basisetally in the infructescence.

Keywords

Amorphophallus johnsoniiAraceaeCarrion beetlespollinationGhanaRainforest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 409 - 418
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Bogner, J. 1976. Amorphophallus maculatus. Der Palmangarten. 3:83–86.Google Scholar
Chen, J. & Meeuse, B. J. D. 1971. Production of free indole by some aroids. Acta Botanische Neerlandica 20:627–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grayum, M. H. 1984. Palynology and phylogeny of the Araceae. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Michigan Microfilms International.Google Scholar
Grayum, M. H. 1986. Pollen morphology in Araceae. Pp. 313–328 in Blackmore, S. & Ferguson, I. K. (eds). Pollen and spores: form and function. Academic Press. London.Google Scholar
Idris, S. 1974. Amorphophallus titanum Becc. (Bunga Bangkai). Bulletin Kebun Raya 1:7–10.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. A. 1988. Volatile compounds from the flowers of Spathiphyllum cannaefolium. Phytochemistry 27:2755–2757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meeuse, B. J. D. & Raskin, I. 1988. Sexual reproduction in the Arum lily family, with emphasis on thermogenecity. Sexual Plant Reproduction 1:3–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B. N. 1964. Production of volatile amines during anthesis in the spadix of some Arum lily species. Ph.D. thesis. University of Washington. Seattle.Google Scholar
Smith, B. N. & Meeuse, B. J. D. 1966. Production of volatile amines and skatole at anthesis in some Arum lily species. Plant Physiology 41:343–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Der Pijl, L. 1937. Biological and physiological observations on the inflorescence of Amorphophallus. Recl. Trav. Bot. Neerl. 34:57–67.Google Scholar
Young, H. J. 1986. Beetle pollination of Dieffenbachia longispatha; (Araceae). American Journal of Botany 73:931–944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, H. J. 1988. Neighbourhood size in a beetle pollinated tropical aroid: effects of low density and asynchronous flowering. Oecologia 76:461–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar