Butterfly foraging and the dispersal of microbes among & within flowers

Abstract

Dispersal is integral to the ecology and evolution of communities. Dispersal affects bacterial communities by impacting bacterial composition and diversity in many environments. One such environment is floral organs. Flowers are nutrient-rich environments for diverse and abundant microbes. Floral microbe community composition is important to pollinator visitation and plant reproduction because microbes alter nectar quality thus changing pollinator visitation. Pollinator visitation to flowers can change the composition and diversity of the floral microbial community and can also impact the spread of disease among plants and pollinators. There is a paucity of studies of rate at which pollinators acquire and disperse microbes among and within flowers. We asked how butterfly foraging affects dispersal of microbes and what factors contribute to microbe abundance on butterflies’ bodies. We used Pyrrocoma crocea (Asteraceae), Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), and Speyeria mormonia (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) to test dispersal of a yellow bacteria via nectar foraging. Butterflies dispersed microbes differentially to different floral organs. The nectaries received significantly more microbes than the anthers, which received significantly more microbes than the stigma. There were not significant differences in microbe abundance on different butterfly parts including the proboscis, feet, and thorax. Glaucopsyche lygdamus had lower bodily microbe abundances than Speyeria mormonia. Dispersal between flowers depends on microbe abundance with more microbes resulting in higher rates of dispersal between flowers. Microbial transmission among and within flowers by generalist butterflies can thus depend on species, age, and microbe abundance. 3 BUTTERFLY FORAGING & MICROBE DISPERSAL

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