Settling moths are the vital component of pollination in Himalayan ecosystem of North-East India, pollen transfer network approach revealed

Navneet Singh,Pallab Chatterjee,Rajesh Lenka,Dipayan Mitra

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-06635-4

Navneet Singh, Pallab Chatterjee + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06635-4

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Abstract

Majority of the pollination related studies are based on the diurnal pollinators, and the nocturnal pollinators received less scientific attention. We reveal the significance of settling moths in pollination of angiosperm families in Himalayan ecosystem of North-East India. The refined and novel method of pollen extraction from the proboscides provides a more robust assessment of the pollen carrying capacity. The study is based on one of the largest data sets (140 pollen transporter moth species (PTMS)), with interpretation based on seasonal as well as altitudinal data. In the present study about 65% moths (91 species) carried sufficient quantities of pollen grains to be considered as potential pollinators (PPMS). Teliphasa sp. (Crambidae) and Cuculia sp. (Noctuidae) are found to carry the highest quantity of pollen. We found pollen grains of 21 plant families and the abundant pollen are from Betulaceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae and Ericaceae. Species composition of PTMS and PPMS in pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon revealed the dominance of Geometridae. Maximum diversity of PTMS and PPMS is found from 2000 to 2500 m altitude. The nocturnal pollen transfer network matrices exhibited high degree of selectivity (H2ʹ = 0.86).

Highlights

Majority of the pollination related studies are based on the diurnal pollinators, and the nocturnal pollinators received less scientific attention
We identified 140 moth species in 18 subfamilies and 6 families of settling moths carrying pollen grains on their proboscis, and termed them as ‘pollen transporter moth species’ (PTMS)
Our approach of using the proboscis by isolating from the moth head and relaxing it for pollen extraction, provides a more robust assessment of the pollen carrying capacity of the moths, because (1) by using the proboscis for the pollen collection, the likelihood of contamination due to pollen rain is reduced, and (2) de-coiling the proboscis enables the study of pollen grains stuck within the coiling of the proboscis

Summary

Introduction

Majority of the pollination related studies are based on the diurnal pollinators, and the nocturnal pollinators received less scientific attention. We reveal the significance of settling moths in pollination of angiosperm families in Himalayan ecosystem of North-East India. In the present study about 65% moths (91 species) carried sufficient quantities of pollen grains to be considered as potential pollinators (PPMS). An important review by Macgregor and co-workers revealed that 289 species of plants (mostly angiosperms from the orders Caryophyllales, Ericales, Gentianales, and Lamiales) under 75 families are partially or entirely pollinated by 21 moth families[8]. The settling moths (mainly of families other than Sphingidae, which hover when feeding from flowers) are extremely common and diverse flower v isitors[19] but are less studied for their role in pollination. Other studies conducted on the pollination of plant families, Asteraceae, Ericaceae, Plantaginaceae, Myrtaceae, Campanulaceae, Thymelaeaceae, revealed the participation of settling m oths[12,27,37,38]

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