Meeting Abstract
Floral scent is important to pollinators for locating flowers as it relays information to pollinators regarding the quality of floral food resources. Pollinators need to track floral scent in a dynamic chemical environment, and these scent signals are vulnerable to interference by degradation and conflicting odor signals in the atmosphere. In this study, we aim are determining how atmospheric chemical reactions affect floral scents, and how that alteration impacts pollinator olfactory responses and behaviors. We hypothesize that chemical components of the atmosphere negatively affect the efficacy of pollinator behaviors by degrading or masking floral scent signals. The Oenothera pallida – Hyles lineata plant-pollinator system is an excellent model to examine these effects. Analysis of the O. pallida scent showed a number of volatiles that are attractive to H. lineata, including volatiles methyl salicylate. Using a High-Resolution Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer to analyze the decomposition of methyl salicylate (in the presence of hydroxy radicals and ozone in a flow tube, demonstrating that the free radicals rapidly degraded the floral volatiles. In parallel, neurophysiological recordings from the moth’s antenna showed strong changes in responses to these degraded floral scents.. Results thus far have suggested that atmospheric chemical decomposition of O. pallida floral scent components may have strong effects on the detection of floral scent signals by H. lineata, which may negatively affect the pollination success of O. pallida in the field.
