Sphecophilia
Sphecophilia is the adaptation of flowers ( wasp flowers ) to pollination by wasps. This special form of insect pollination ( entomophilia ) plays a rather subordinate role.
Questions arising as pollinators in Central Europe wasps include the wasps (Vespidae), the grave wasps ( Sphecidae ) and parasitic wasps (Ichneumonidae). Wasps mostly only need the nectar for their own needs, but not for rearing the brood (see honey wasps (Masarinae)). Therefore, they often visit the flowers in autumn, after the breeding season.
The features that distinguish wasp flowers are:
- The color of the flowers is brown, greenish or whitish.
- The shape of the flowers is such that the nectar is accessible to the short, biting-licking mouthparts.
The wasp flowers are not sharply demarcated from the fly flowers . This can be seen in ivy ( Hedera helix ), which is pollinated by both flies and wasps.
A typical wasp flower is also the flower of figwort ( Scrophularia ), a revenge flower shows in the wasps fit well. With their belly they touch the anthers and the scar . Wasps also pollinate some species of ragwort ( Ophrys ): the fly ragwort ( Ophrys insectifera ) is pollinated by males of the burial wasp genus Argorytes, the mirror ragwurz ( Ophrys speculum ) by males of the dagger wasp genus Campsoscolia .
supporting documents
- Peter Leins: blossom and fruit. Morphology, history of development, phylogeny, function, ecology . E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2000, pp. 219, 227-232. ISBN 3-510-65194-4