中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园机构知识库

Figs and pollinating fig wasps are involved in highly specific mutualisms. Because associations between figs and their pollinating wasps are horizontally transmitted, partner encounter is a crucial step, and is mediated by the emission by receptive figs of the volatile compounds that are detected by the pollinator. However, pollinator attraction is probably not the only function of the volatile compounds produced by figs. Other likely functions include signalling to wasps that a fig has already been pollinated, and deterring or defending against visitors with negative effects on developing figs or the pollinators they contain. The functions of volatile compounds will also change over the course of fig development, and the composition of the odour bouquet is thus also likely to vary. However, this variation and its likely functional importance have rarely been studied. To address these questions, we investigated changes in the composition of the bouquet of volatile compounds, and in the rate of emission of odour components, before, during and after the phase of receptivity to pollinators in Ficus hispida, in Yunnan (China). This first study of the dynamics of variation in signal composition throughout the cycle of fig development, provides support for the hypothesis of chemical mimicry in dioecious figs.