Floral Scent and Pollinators of Cypripedium calceolus L. at Different Latitudes

Abstract

Floral scent is an important trait in plant–pollinator interactions. It not only varies among plant species but also among populations within species. Such variability might be caused by various non–selective factors, or, as has been shown in some instances, might be the result of divergent selective pressures exerted by variable pollinator climates. Cypripedium calceolus is a Eurasian deceptive orchid pollinated mainly by bees, which spans wide altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in mainly quite isolated populations. In the present study, we investigated whether pollinators and floral scents vary among different latitudes. Floral scents of three C. calceolus populations in the Southern Alps were collected by dynamic headspace and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). These data were completed by previously published scent data of the Northern Alps and Scandinavia. The scent characteristics were compared with information on pollinators recorded for present study or available in the literature. More than 80 scent compounds were overall recorded from plants of the three regions, mainly aliphatics, terpenoids, and aromatics. Seven compounds were found in all samples, and most samples were dominated by linalool and octyl acetate. Although scents differed among regions and populations, the main compounds were similar among regions. Andrena and Lasioglossum species were the main pollinators in all three regions, with Andrena being relatively more abundant than Lasioglossum in Scandinavia. We discuss natural selection mediated by pollinators and negative frequency–dependent selection as possible reasons for the identified variation of floral scent within and among populations and regions.