A interrelação entre a morfologia floral de solanum lycocarpum e o tamanho corporal das abelhas visitantes garante o sucesso reprodutivo?

Abstract

The efficiency of pollination depends on factors that favor the transfer of pollen between flowers. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the bees visiting flowers of Solanum lycocarpum on the reproductive success of plants of this species and the relationship between foral morphometry and bees body size. For morphometry comparison, 25 flowers of each morph were used. Pollination efficiency tests were conducted after isolation of 240 buttons. The contribution of the most frequent bee species to the pollen flow among individuals of S. lycocarpum was evaluated by counting the number of flowers and shrubs visited at each forage. It was verified that in the corollas of the pin flowers the gynoecium presents a larger diameter than in those of the thrum flowers. The other structures did not differ significantly. Bees of the species Centris scopipes and Ephicaris flava were the ones that contributed the most to the reproductive success of S. lycocarpum, since 90% and 82.5%, respectively, of the flowers visited once by them resulted in fruits. However, foraging by the main visitors in the flowers of S. lycocarpum: Centris scopipes, Ephicaris flava, Oxaea flavencens, Centris analis and Exomalopis fulvofasciata favor pollen flow and xenogamic cross-pollination in S. lycocarpum individuals.