Bat foraging strategies and pollination of Madhuca latifolia (Sapotaceae) in southern India

The sympatrically occurring Indian short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx and Indian flying fox Pteropus giganteus visit Madhuca latifolia (Sapotaceae), which offers fleshy corollas (approximate to 300 mg) to pollinating bats. The flowers are white, tiny and in dense fascicles The foraging activities of the two bat species were segregated in space and time. Cynopterus sphinx fed on resources at lower heights in the trees than P giganteus and its peak foraging activity occurred at 19 30 h, before that of P giganteus Foraging activities involved short searching flights followed by landing and removal of the corolla by mouth Cynopterus sphinx detached single corollas from fascicles and carried them to nearby feeding roosts, where it sucked the juice and spat out the Fibrous remains Pteropus giganteus landed on top of the trees and fed on the corollas in situ, its peak activity occurred at 20 30 11 This species glided and crawled between the branches and held the branches with claws and forearms when removing fleshy corollas with Its Mouth Both C sphinx and P giganteus consumed fleshy corollas with attached stamens and left the gynoecium intact Bagging experiments showed that fruit-set in bat-visited flowers was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than in self-pollinated flowers.

Fruit and Seed Volatiles: Multiple Stage Settings, Actors and Props in an Evolutionary Play

Plants emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from most parts of their anatomy. Conventionally, the volatiles of leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds have been investigated separately. This review presents an integrated perspective of volatiles produced by fruits and seeds in the context of selection on the whole plant. It suggests that fruit and seed volatiles may only be understood in the light of the chemistry of the whole plant. Fleshy fruit may be viewed as an ecological arena within which several evolutionary games are being played involving fruit VOCs. Fruit odour and colour may be correlated and interact via multimodal signalling in influencing visits by frugivores. The hypothesis of volatile crypsis in the evolution of hard seeds as protection against volatile diffusion and perception by seed predators is reviewed. Current views on the role of volatiles in ant dispersal of seeds or myrmecochory are summarised, especially the suggestion that ants are being manipulated by plants in the form of a sensory trap while providing this service. Plant VOC production is presented as an emergent phenotype that could result from multiple selection pressures acting on various plant parts; the ``plant'' phenotype and VOC profile may receive significant contributions from symbionts within the plant. Viewing the plant as a holobiont would benefit an understanding of the emergent plant phenotype.