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Watt WB, Hoch PC, Mills SG. Nectar resource use by Colias butterflies : Chemical and visual aspects. Oecologia. 1974;14(4):353-374doi: 10.1007/BF00384578.
Watt, W. B., Hoch, P. C., & Mills, S. G. (1974). Nectar resource use by Colias butterflies : Chemical and visual aspects. Oecologia, 14(4), 353-374. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384578
Watt, Ward B, et al. "Nectar resource use by Colias butterflies : Chemical and visual aspects." Oecologia vol. 14,4 (1974): 353-374. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384578
Watt WB, Hoch PC, Mills SG. Nectar resource use by Colias butterflies : Chemical and visual aspects. Oecologia. 1974 Dec;14(4):353-374. doi: 10.1007/BF00384578. PMID: 28308659.
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Oecologia. 1974 Dec;14(4):353-374. doi: 10.1007/BF00384578.

Nectar resource use by Colias butterflies : Chemical and visual aspects.

Oecologia

Ward B Watt, Peter C Hoch, Susan G Mills

Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, Ca.
  2. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, 81224, Crested Butte, Co.

PMID: 28308659 DOI: 10.1007/BF00384578

Abstract

Nectar foraging preferences of Colias butterflies in two different mountain ecosystems are examined with respect to plant distribution, nectar quantity, carbohydrate (and amino acid) content of nectar, and visual pattern of the plants utilized and avoided. Colias, and apparently numerous other small, ectothermic, low-energy-demand pollinators, "patronize" plants producing relatively dilute nectars containing a high proportion of monosaccharide sugars and significant amounts of polar, nitrogen-rich amino acids. These plants also converge on a common "target" flower pattern in ultraviolet and human-visible light. High-energy demand, endothermic pollinators, by contrast, appear to require higher concentration nectars and/or higher proportions of di- and oligosaccharide sugars. These results are discussed in the light of water balance and energy budget demands of different pollinator classes. Questions are also raised concerning behavioral aspects of pollinator search for resources and the pertinence of these data to the concept of floral mimicry.

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