Pollination Biology of the Genus Artocarpus, Moraceae.

Abstract

The pollination biology of Artocarpus odoratissimus and A. integer (Moraceae) was studied in Sarawak, Malaysia. Female and male heads of A. odoratissimus secreted liquid rewards containing fructose in nighttime, and were visited by diverse nocturnal insects (18 families of 4 orders) including flies, nitidulid beetles, moths and cockroaches. In A. integer, male heads offered only pollen as rewards, and female heads offered liquid rewards containing protein. They were visited by diverse nocturnal insects (11 families of 5 orders). The evidence for insect pollination of these two species of Artocarpus was from the existence of rewards, and that some insects carrying pollen grains were collected on female heads.