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The purpose of this study was to document and identify flower-settling moths within a Florida sandhill ecosystem and investigate their potential pollination capabilities. A combination of methods incorporating observation, morphology, pollen analysis and behaviour were applied. Fifty-two species of moths were documented taking nectar on flowers. A novel nectar-feeding behaviour categorized as fluttering resulted in increased pollen collection. Significant morphological match of moth proboscis length with flower corolla length was found. A preliminary list of sandhill moths is presented, and a pollen library of flowers found throughout the study area was created. This study was the first to conduct observations of settling moths in upland pine communities, and offers a rare glimpse into the interactions of moths with flowers within a unique ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A once common butterfly found only in Florida, C),clargus thomasi bethunebakeri (Miami Blue), declined to near extinction during the 1990s. On 26 November 2006, we discovered this species on Boca Grande Key, 76 km west of Bahia Honda Key. Previously, the butterfly was only known to survive on Bahia Honda Key. Over the following 8-month period, we searched periodically for this butterfly on islands in the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge (GWHWNR) and the Key West National Wildlife Refuge (KWNWR). The Miami Blue was not found on 6 islands in GWHNWR, but was present at 8 of 10 areas in KWNWR. Seven of the occupied sites were on islands in the Marquesas Keys. The number of Miami Blue adults varied greatly by island and season, but were highest at the two largest colonies when Pithecellobium keyense (Blackbead; both a larval host and adult nectar plant) was flowering and producing new leaves. Eight other plant species were visited by adult Miami Blues for nectar. Threats to the newly discovered colonies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Larra bicolor F. (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is a specialist parasitoid of Scapteriscus (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) mole crickets, attacking adults and medium to large nymphs of the hosts. Adult wasps derive energy from plant nectars. In replicated trials in pastures in northern Florida, many more wasps fed on nectar of Spermacoce verticillata F. (Rubiaceae), a non-native plant, than on nectar of the native plants Spermacoce prostrata Aubi. or Spermacoce remota Laniarck. Few of them fed on the native plant Solidago fistulosa Michx. (Asteraceae). About as many fed on the native plant Chamaecristafasciculata (Michx) Greene as on S. verticillata in the autumn months until the native plant ceased flowering by October. In contrast, S. verticillata continues flowering until the first hard freeze, which typically occurs in December, so overall, it is a more reliable nectar source in northern Florida and may be still more reliable in frost-free areas of southern Florida where it may flower year-round. The number of immature wasps (eggs and larvae) parasitizing mole crickets was positively related to host density but also declined with distance from a plot of S. verticillata Out to 200 m, based on samples of pitfall trap collected mole crickets. The occurrence of parasitized mole crickets at a 200-m distance suggests that female wasps recruited to a plot of S. verticillata forage for hosts out to at least 200 m, This in turn suggests that mole cricket populations might be diminished by planting plots of S. verticillata at least 400 m apart when L. bicolor wasps are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which investigates the characteristics of the squash bee Xenoglossa kansensis Cockerell in the organic farms in Alachua County, Florida which is said to contribute to the production of essential crops through pollination. It says that squash and gourd bees are considered effective pollinators by collecting pollen from Cucurbita flowers. It mentions that the bees are fed from the nectar of flowers of varying colors. Results show that the bees played a major role in the total squash production in the country while differences among the surveys in organic and non-organic farms may show that the use of pesticides affects the bees.

When resources in a territory have a patchy distribution, intruders may successfully exploit unguarded patches. In such cases, territory owners may use exploitative strategies to reduce the gains of the intruders. The territorial ant Camponotus floridanus attends the leaf nectaries of Urena lobata, which are also visited by the ant Pseudomyrmex mexicanus and other intruders. Residents visited the nectaries at a high rate and in a systematic way, and thereby depressed the mean standing crop per nectary. This reduces the gains of randomly visiting intruders which obtain the mean standing crop per nectary visit. Two or three residents were present on large plants and kept the mean standing crop at the same low level as at small plants with a single ant. This is an ideal free distribution of the ants. The resident ants visited the nectaries at a rate which increased in proportion to the nectar production per nectary. This is the expected systematic visitation when nectar production varies between nectaries. It is suggested that systematic visitation and maximization of the visitation rate are evolutionarily stable strategies in both residents and intruders. However, the intruders are constrained by the residents, so that they visit the nectaries less frequently and in a random manner, and thus have a lower gain rate. When the resident was temporarily absent, the intruders visited the nectaries at a high rate and systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Impatiens with dyed nectar were mixed 1:4 with garden plants in outdoor mesocosms. • 50 mosquitoes were released into each mesocosm. • 82% of males and 87% of females fed on dyed nectar within 24 h. • Impatiens plants are candidates for nectar delivery of mosquitocidal peptide toxins. Mosquitoes rely upon plant nectars for their energy needs, a trait that has the potential to allow nectar to serve as a platform for producing and delivering toxins to nuisance and/or vector mosquito species. Impatiens walleriana (Order: Ericales, Family: Balsaminaceae) is a readily transformable and widely planted nectar plant that has been previously shown to attract mosquito nectar-feeding. However, those feeding studies were only conducted indoors and did not test if variable environmental conditions will affect nectar feeding. In this study, we tested incidence of nectar feeding from the extrafloral nectaries of I. walleriana with the mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, Ae. albopictus and Culex quinquefasciatus (Order: Diptera, Family: Culicidae) in simulated, outdoor garden settings in Mississippi and Florida. I. walleriana and other common garden plants (in a 1:4 ratio) were placed into a mesh-lined 4'x7' mesocosm along with 50 mosquitoes. To track nectar feeding, the nectar of I. walleriana was tagged with red dye and mosquitoes were analyzed for red dye fluorescence after feeding. Fluorescence analysis demonstrated that 81.9% of male and 86.6% of female mosquitoes fed on the nectar of I. walleriana within 24 h. This suggests that mosquitoes may readily feed on impatiens nectar in outdoor garden settings at temperate and semi-tropical sites, even when alternate common garden plants are available. This attraction capacity is essential for the further consideration of I. walleriana for development as a transgenic, mosquitocidal nectar plant. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]