We need to talk about floral larceny

Abstract

Floral resources mediate the mutual interactions between plants and pollinators. In an optimal manner, the investment of flowers in the production of resources is rewarded by floral visitors through adequate transport of pollen among conspecific individuals. However, visitors can obtain resources in different ways, with different implications in the pollination process and floral integrity. A range of terms and concepts has been used for the diversity of behaviors involved in floral larceny, but the main terms are consolidated after the seminal paper by David W. Inouye in 1980. Many studies in pollination biology in Brazil deal with these concepts adequately, however, the use of terms in Portuguese such as nectar thief and robber are inconsistent. I here suggest definitions and terms in Portuguese for floral larceny based on the concepts of legitimate and illegitimate visits.