XVI International Botanical Congess

While studies of insect learning have focused largely on the cognitive capabilities of bees, other non-hymenopteran pollinators, including butterflies, moths, flies, and even beetles, are also capable of associating a range of cues with patterns of floral reward availability. This capacity to learn has important implications for the evolutionary relationship between pollinators and their flowers. Complex floral morphologies, color changes, or variable temporal schedules of nectar production, for example, owe their existence to a pollinatorĘs ability to learn. Thus, investigation of floral traits can increase our understanding of pollinatorsĘ cognitive and sensory capacities, while knowledge of pollinatorsĘ learning abilities can help us to understand the evolution of floral traits.