Chiropterophilia

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Bat-pollinated flowers such as bananas are often coarse

In botany, chiropterophilia , also chiropterophilia, flagellifloria , pendulifloria or bat bloom , is a trait syndrome in plants that is associated with pollination by bats , i.e. H. the adaptations of plants to bats as pollinators. Not play insectivorous , but the tropical and subtropical nectar leaking and fruit-eating bats and flying foxes a role.

Chiropterophilic plants often bloom at night, their flowers have an intense scent, e.g. B. cabbage , onions, sweat or fermentation or fruits and vegetables, or a sour note, but also sweet smells such as with Parkia species are possible. They produce a lot of nectar , which has a slimy consistency. Since the pollinators are quite large, the flowers are usually coarse and wide open. A lot of pollen is often produced, which sticks to the snout with the nectar and thus ensures the pollination of the next flower. Some of the flower structures found in chiropterophilic flowers not only seem to serve for better stability, but also have an effect on the echolocation of the bats. These elements reflect the sound so that the animals are able to determine not only the location of the flower, but also the quality of the food offered.

Typical colors of the flowers are greenish-purple or dirty whitish to yellowish, as in the case of the well-known baobab .

literature

  • Klaus Dobat, Therese Peikert-Holle: Flowers and bats: Pollination by bats and flying foxes (chiropterophilia). Kramer, 1985, ISBN 3-7829-1095-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. Stefan Pettersson, Jewe T. Knudsen: Floral scent and nectar production in Parkia biglobosa Jacq. (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). In: Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 135 (2), 2001, pp. 97-106, doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8339.2001.tb01084.x .
  2. ^ Carolina Neuy: Chiropterogamy. Bat pollination. Student thesis, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Grin, 2017, ISBN 978-3-668-56154-0 .
  3. Adolf Engler , Hans Melchior (Ed.): A. Engler's Syllabus of Plant Families. 12th, newly designed edition, Verlag Gebr. Bornträger, Berlin-Nikolassee 1964, OCLC 478092919 , p. 226 above; 230 m., 239 m .; 311 u.