Conflicting Dynamics of Galling and Pollination: Arastichus gallicola (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), a Specialized Parasitic Galler in Pistillate Flowers of Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum (Araceae)
Sergio Jansen-González, Simone P Teixeira, Rodrigo A S Pereira, Francisco Rubén Badenes-Pérez · 2024
Read Conflicting Dynamics of Galling and Pollination: Arastichus gallicola (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), a Specialized Parasitic Galler in Pistillate Flowers of Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum (Araceae) by Sergio Jansen-González, Simone P Teixeira, Rodrigo A S Pereira, Francisco Rubén Badenes-Pérez (2024) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-11677319.txt.
Description
A tiny wasp that lays eggs inside a plant's flowers can both harm the plant and, oddly, help it keep its blooms. Sergio Jansen-González and co-authors studied that tension in this 2024 paper. The wasp forms galls, small growths, in the ovaries of a large tropical plant. The plant's flowers also need pollination to set seed.
Field tests and tissue studies showed that galls can form even without fertilized ovules. Pollination, though, sharply cut how often whole flower heads fell off. Heads with galling alone dropped at a rate of sixty-four percent. Heads with both galling and pollination dropped at thirty-three percent. So the wasp's damage is partly offset by the pollinators it shares the flowers with. The balance shapes how this odd partnership persists.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Sergio Jansen-González, Simone P Teixeira, Rodrigo A S Pereira, Francisco Rubén Badenes-Pérez |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 38 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |