Thrips pollination of Mesozoic gymnosperms

Within modern gymnosperms, conifers and Ginkgo are exclusively wind pollinated whereas many gnetaleans and cycads are insect pollinated. For cycads, thrips are specialized pollinators. We report such a specialized pollination mode from Early Cretaceous amber of Spain, wherein four female thrips repr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2012-05, Vol.109 (22), p.8623-8628
Main Authors: Peñalver, Enrique, Labandeira, Conrad C, Barrón, Eduardo, Delclòs, Xavier, Nel, Patricia, Nel, André, Tafforeau, Paul, Soriano, Carmen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
amber
anatomy & histology
Angiosperms
Animals
Apoidea
Biological Evolution
Biological Sciences
classification
Coniferophyta
conifers
Cycadopsida
Cycadopsida - classification
Cycadopsida - parasitology
Cycadopsida - physiology
Female
Female animals
females
Fossils
Geological time
Ginkgo
Gymnosperms
Host-Parasite Interactions
Insect larvae
Insect pollination
Insect vectors
Insects
larvae
Life Sciences
methods
Paleobotany
Paleontology
Paleontology - methods
parasitology
physiology
Plant reproduction
Pollen
Pollen - physiology
Pollinating insects
Pollination
Pollination - physiology
pollinators
sensilla
Spain
Species Specificity
Thysanoptera
Thysanoptera - anatomy & histology
Thysanoptera - classification
Thysanoptera - physiology
Wind
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Summary:Within modern gymnosperms, conifers and Ginkgo are exclusively wind pollinated whereas many gnetaleans and cycads are insect pollinated. For cycads, thrips are specialized pollinators. We report such a specialized pollination mode from Early Cretaceous amber of Spain, wherein four female thrips representing a genus and two species in the family Melanthripidae were covered by abundant Cycadopites pollen grains. These females bear unique ring setae interpreted as specialized structures for pollen grain collection, functionally equivalent to the hook-tipped sensilla and plumose setae on the bodies of bees. The most parsimonious explanation for this structure is parental food provisioning for larvae, indicating subsociality. This association provides direct evidence of specialized collection and transportation of pollen grains and likely gymnosperm pollination by 110–105 million years ago, possibly considerably earlier.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1120499109