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Issue: Vol. 5 No. 6 (2017)
Type: Scientific Note
Published: 2017-03-31
DOI: 10.12976/jib/2017.5.6
Page range: 1-4
Abstract views: 179
PDF downloaded: 100

Flower-visiting insects observed on the critically endangered alpine plant species Callianthemum kernerianum Freyn ex A. Kerner (Ranunculaceae)

Ph. D., MUSE-Museo delle Scienze, Sezione di Zoologia degli Invertebrati e Idrobiologia, Trento, ITALY
Section of Zoology, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria 9, 37129 Verona, Italy
Via A. Moro 14, 27040 Campospinoso, Pavia, Italy
Section of Zoology, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria 9, 37129 Verona, Italy
Section of Zoology, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria 9, 37129 Verona, Italy
Section of Botany, MUSE-Museo delle Scienze, Corso del Lavoro e della Scienza 3, 38122 Trento, Italy
Endemism IUCN red-list plant-insect interactions pollinators Alps.

Abstract

In the present paper we provide the first contribution to the knowledge of the flower-visiting insect assemblages of the alpine plant species Callianthemum kernerianum Freyn ex A. Kerner (Ranunculaceae). This focal plant species was selected since it is a steno-endemic and critically endangered species belonging to the IUCN red-list. Fifteen taxa were recorded, among which very few are true pollinators, whereas all the others can be considered only indirect pollinators. The peculiar phenology of the plant and the harsh habitat conditions in which it grows probably affect the richness and abundance of flower-visiting insects as well as of true pollinators. This could be the reason for this plant to be a self-compatible species.