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(American Journal of Botany. 2006;93:491-495.)
© 2006 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Brief Communication

Loss of extrafloral nectary on an oceanic island plant and its consequences for herbivory1

Shinji Sugiura2,4, Tetsuto Abe3 and Shun'ichi Makino2

2Department of Forest Entomology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan; 3Department of Forest Vegetation, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan

Two Hibiscus (Malvaceae) species coexist on the oceanic Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands: Hibiscus glaber (an endemic species) and H. tiliaceus (the ancestral non-endemic species). Hibiscus tiliaceus produces extrafloral nectar from the sepals, while H. glaber does not. To clarify the effects of extrafloral nectar loss on Hibiscus–insect relationships, we examined herbivory and insect communities on flower buds of H. glaber and H. tiliaceus. Larvae of the endemic moth Rehimena variegata (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) attacked 20% of the flower buds on H. glaber, while less than 0.2% of buds on H. tiliaceus were attacked. Introduced species of ants frequently visited the flower buds of H. tiliaceus to collect extrafloral nectar from the sepal, while they rarely visited those of H. glaber. Therefore, extrafloral nectar on H. tiliaceus sepals may function as a facultative defense against flower bud herbivory. The loss of extrafloral nectaries of H. glaber sepals may be related to the original paucity of native herbivores and ants on the Bonin Islands.

Key Words: antiherbivore defense • ants • endemic species • evolution • Hibiscus • introduced species • sepals




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J. Exp. Bot., April 20, 2007; (2007) erm028v2.
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