Nectar Guides but Pollen Doesn’t: Learning and Uncertainty in Plant-Pollinator Interactions

To all Cambridge Entomological Club members and entomology enthusiasts,

The next meeting of the CEC will be held on Tuesday November 10 at 07:30 PM in in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Dan Papaj will present a talk entitled "Nectar Guides but Pollen Doesn’t: Learning and Uncertainty in Plant-Pollinator Interactions".

Humans perceive the world as uncertain in key respects, and think often about how to cope with uncertainty. Insects too must cope with uncertainty, for example, in the availability and value of their resources. In this talk, I treat plants and their insect pollinators as signalers and receivers respectively in a communication system that is part mutualism and part antagonism. I will argue that the floral resource can be uncertain from a pollinator’s perspective in two key ways: first, the signals by which flowers are identified and located may be uncertain (= low signal detectability) and, second, the consequences of attending to the signal may be uncertain (= low information reliability). Drawing from our work on bumble bees, examples of each challenge for pollinators and the means by which challenges are met will be presented. Ways in which flowers appear to mitigate uncertainty will be contrasted with ways in which they appear to maintain it and benefit from it, even at the expense of the pollinator. The talk will touch on a broad range of topics, including signal detection theory, multimodal communication, learning (including social learning), concealed floral rewards, nectar guides and nectar robbing, and floral sonication behavior.

The meeting is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided and you are also welcome to join us at 5:45 PM for an informal pre-meeting dinner at West Side Lounge Restaurant.

Please feel free distribute this announcement to other individuals or groups that you feel would be interested in this talk or in the Cambridge Entomological Club.

Nate Edelman
CEC Vice-president