关键词:
Simuliidae
pollinators
Candy
Chamaedaphne calyculata
Folklore
Vaccinium angustifolium
摘要:
It is often said that on the Canadian Shield, black flies pollinate the sweet lowbush blueberry, because years with high black fly populations also tend to be those with large blueberry crops. This folklore has never been tested experimentally. Here we report on research designed to test whether or not black flies can act as pollinators for two species of ericaceous plants, sweet lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) and leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata). In enclosures, black flies may assist in leatherleaf pollination but there is no evidence that they increase fruit set in sweet lowbush blueberry. However, we do not exclude the possibility that in the wild, they act as opportunistic nectar thieves of sweet lowbush blueberry.