Most diverse, most neglected: weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) are ubiquitous specialized brood-site pollinators of tropical flora
Résumé
In tropical environments, and especially tropical rainforests, a major part of pollination services
is provided by diverse insect lineages. Unbeknownst to most, beetles, and more specifically
hyperdiverse weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea), play a substantial role there as specialist
mutualist brood pollinators. The latter contrasts with a common view where they are only
regarded as plant antagonists. This study aims at giving a comprehensive understanding of
what is known on plant-weevil mutualist interactions, through a review of the known reciprocal
behavioral, morphological and physiological adaptations found in plant-weevil systems, and
the identification of potential knowledge gaps to fill. To date, plant-weevil associations have
been described or indicated in no less than 600 instances. Representatives of all major plant
lineages (gymnosperms, angiosperms monocots and dicots) are involved in these
interactions, which have emerged independently at least a dozen times. Strikingly, these
mutualistic interactions have led to a range of multiple convergent adaptations in plants and
weevils. Plants engaged in weevil-mediated pollination are generally of typical
cantharophilous type and they also show specific structures to host the larval stages of their
specialist pollinators. Another characteristic feature is that flowers often perform
thermogenesis and exhibit a range of strategies to separate sexual phases, either physically
for chronologically. Conversely, lineages of brood-site weevil pollinators present numerous
behavioral and physiological adaptations, and often form multispecific assemblages of closely
related species on a single host; recent studies also revealed that they generally display a
high degree of phylogenetic niche conservatism. This pollination mutualism occurs in all
tropical regions, and the contrasts between the known and expected diversity of these systems
suggests that a wide range of interactions remain to be described globally. Our early estimates
of the species richness of the corresponding weevil clades and the marked pattern of
phylogenetic niche conservatism of host use further suggest that weevil-based pollination far
exceeds the diversity of other brood-site mutualistic systems, which are generally restricted to one or a few groups of plants. As such, weevil pollinators constitute a relevant model to explore the emergence and evolution of specialized brood-site pollination systems in the tropics.
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Preprint Haran et al. Review weevil pollination tropics.pdf (1.69 Mo)
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