Oral Paper

         Macroevolution

Pollination Diversity in American Justicia (Acanthaceae)

Presenting Author
Amanda Fisher
Description
Evolutionary transitions between different types of animal pollinators may play a role in angiosperm species diversity and select for various floral forms. The approximately 400 species of American Justicia (Acanthaceae) have a wide variety of flower shapes, sizes, and colors and are pollinated by bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, flies, bats, moths, and other animals. Previous studies have found that corolla color and size, anther form, pollen morphology, and stigma morphology correlate with pollinator groups in some Justicia clades. We sought to contextualize these findings by characterizing the extent and patterns of association between animal pollinator groups and American Justicia species. We created a database of animals observed visiting open flowers of American Justicia species that relied on observations from field work, published studies and theses, interviews with field biologists, and community science observations. The most commonly observed visitors to American Justicia are hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. We also documented beetles, wasps, and hawkmoths as visitors. Across the American Justicia clade the most common transition is between bee and hummingbird visitors. Animal visitors were found to be associated with flower color, especially red flowers with hummingbirds, purple flowers with bees and butterflies, white flowers with bees, flies, moths, and wasps, green flowers with bats, and yellow flowers with hummingbirds.