Gall Midge Mimicry
Many of the white umbels of wild carrot (Daucus carota, Apiaceae), also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, are decorated by a group of modified flowers in their center. The modified flowers are very dark, ranging when mature from very dark purple to black (Fig.
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Gall Midge Mimicry
Many of the white umbels of wild carrot (Daucus carota, Apiaceae), also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, are decorated by a group of modified flowers in their center. The modified flowers are very dark, ranging when mature from very dark purple to black (Fig. 62.1). Another member of the family, Artedia squamata also has such dark central flowers (Fig. 62.2). The proposed possible functions of these dark central flowers, and the differences in their function between habitats, as well as the proposed lack of function, is an excellent demonstration of the level of ecological/ evolutionary complexity of such visual and colorful characters. Discussions concerning these dark flowers began with Darwin (1877), who could not figure out a function for this character. Detto (1905) cited in Yeo (1972) proposed that the dark flowers in umbels of D. carota are a type of insect mimicry evolved in order to discourage grazing animals. Rothschild (1972) thought that these dark flowers are crude insect mimics that may serve to attract pollinators. Eisikowitch (1980) proposed that these dark flowers mimic insects and by this attract pollinators in D. carota plants growing in Israel. Westmoreland and Muntan (1996) found that this may operate in pollinator attraction in certain D. carota populations studied in West Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky and New York, but not in many others, depending on the composition of the pollinating fauna. Lamborn and Ollerton (2000) did not find any influence of these dark flowers on pollination in D. carota plants growing in central England, but Goulson et al. (2009) found that it attracted pollinators in plants growing in Portugal. Polte and Reinhold (2013) showed that these flowers may provide some defense against the parasitic gall midge Kiefferia pericarpiicola in D. carota plants growing in Germany. Altogether, the various functions of these visually conspicuous dark modified flowers are not universal, but are rather site and situation dependent. This is an excellent demonstration of the multiple functions of insect mimicry by plants including defense from herbivory and attraction of pollinators, and sheds light on the spatial and temporal differences in the function of such characters.
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 S. Lev-Yadun, Defensive (anti-herbivory) Coloration in Land Plants, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42096-7_62
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Gall Midge Mimicry
Fig. 62.1 The umbels of the wild carrot Daucus carota, also known as Queen Anne’s Lace, are decorated by a group of modified dark flowers in their center
Fig. 62.2 Like Daucus carota, Artedia squamata also has modified dark flowers in their umbels, enhanced in the picture by actual beetles
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