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Foraging ecology of hoverflies: morphology of the mouthparts in relation to feeding on nectar and pollen in some common urban species
Author(s) -
GILBERT FRANCIS S.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1981.tb00612.x
Subject(s) - nectar , arthropod mouthparts , biology , foraging , pollen , ecology , zoology , botany
. 1. Previous accounts of the feeding behaviour of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are contradictory and in many cases do not correspond with field observations. 2. Patterns of feeding on nectar and pollen differ between species: these patterns are correlated with morphological differences. 3. The data indicate that there are two correlates of increasing tongue length: first, the proportion of pollen in the diet decreases; and second, the flies concentrate on visiting flowers with longer corollae, which contain more nectar sugar. 4. Reasons for these effects are discussed.