Browsing by Author "Johnson, Shelley"

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    Pollen digestion in flower-feeding Scarabaeidae : protea beetles (Cetoniini) and monkey beetles (Hopliini)
    (2000) Johnson, Shelley; Nicolson, Sue W; Tets, Ian G van
    Beetles pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants and feed on the two most common floral rewards, nectar and pollen. Pollen is nutritionally very valuable, being a rich protein and carbohydrate source. However, the hard and highly resistant outer wall (exine) of the grain is an obstacle that pollen-feeders must overcome in order to benefit from the pollen's nutritious protoplasm. There are a variety of mechanisms that pollen-feeders may use to deal with the exine. Collembolans secrete exinase that breaks down the wall, but other pollen-feeders do not produce this enzyme. Pollen-feeders that are unable to ingest grains may either pierce the grain and suck out the contents (thrips and biting-flies) or cause the grain contents to leach out an imbibe the leachate (butterflies and the eucalupt nectar fly). Pollen-feeders that can ingest the grains (bees, syrphid flies, rodents, marsupials, bats and birds) may use osmotic shock, pseudo-germination, exudation, microbial digestion or enzyme penetration to gain access to the protoplasmic contents. Further study is needed to define the details of these methods and whether they are all in use.