The role of adult noctuid moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and their food plants in a nocturnal pollen-transport network on a Mediterranean island

Elisa Ribas-Marquès,Marzia Boi,Joan Díaz-Calafat

doi:10.1007/s10841-022-00382-7

Elisa Ribas-Marquès, Marzia Boi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-022-00382-7

Copy DOI

Abstract

Noctuidae belong to one of the largest families of night-flying Lepidoptera. However, despite being among the most common nocturnal flower-visitors, they have seldom been included in pollination networks. Similarly, the current knowledge on food plants used by adults is rather scarce. In this article, we build the first moth–plant pollen transfer network in the Balearic archipelago. We aim to increase the knowledge of which plants are used as food resources by adult Noctuidae, assess how specific or generalist nocturnal pollinators and their food plants are and establish the first baseline information on adult Noctuidae–plant interactions on the archipelago and the Mediterranean. 20.7% of the adult Noctuidae in our samplings carried pollen and were therefore potentially involved in nocturnal pollination. The family Ericaceae, and especially Arbutus unedo, was a key food resource for our moth community, with 46% of the total recorded interactions belonging to this plant. Overall, both plants and moths in our system behaved in a generalist way. Niche overlap was larger in moths than in plants, suggesting that the functional role that moth species take in our system is more redundant than that taken by plants. Robustness values suggest that the network functionality would not collapse despite the extinction of a few species.Implications for insect conservationDetecting flower preferences and the role of nocturnal insects on pollination will allow understanding of ecosystem functionality and will be crucial for conservation of both moths and organisms that depend on them.

Highlights

Animal-mediated pollination is an essential process in all ecosystems in which plants depend on animal pollen transfer to reproduce (González-Varo et al 2013)
Research regarding plantLepidoptera interactions has mostly focused on butterflies, despite moths representing approximately 90% of Lepidoptera species (Ricketts et al 2001)
There are still considerable knowledge gaps about their role as pollinators (Hahn and Brühl 2016; Van Zandt et al 2020), and they have seldom been included in pollination networks until recently (Banza et al 2015; Devoto et al 2011; Macgregor and ScottBrown (2020; Walton et al 2020)

Summary

Introduction

Animal-mediated pollination is an essential process in all ecosystems in which plants depend on animal pollen transfer to reproduce (González-Varo et al 2013). The majority of Lepidoptera visit flowers in order to take profit from their nectar (Krenn 2010). This insect order is very diverse, with approximately 165,000 species (Kristensen et al 2007; Regier et al 2009), which is estimated to be close to 10% of insect species worldwide (Willmer 2011). Research regarding plantLepidoptera interactions has mostly focused on butterflies, despite moths representing approximately 90% of Lepidoptera species (Ricketts et al 2001). Research has mainly considered diurnal pollination networks and has neglected nocturnal pollination until rather recently. Nocturnal pollination research does exist, albeit still fragmentary and unevenly across moth

Objectives

Findings

Methods