Pollinators (and Visitors) of Aroid Inflorescences

This web page is a summary of a review (Gibernau M., 2003 - 26 : 66-83) and its addendum (Gibernau M., 2011 - 34 : 70-83), both published in Aroideana, where you'll find the complete literature references.

Data on aroid pollinators was first summarised by Grayum in 1984 who documented 35 genera and about 90 species. A second summary was published in 1997 in The Genera of Araceae by Mayo, Bogner and Boyce with 38 genera and less than 100 species listed. The present table brings the reference list up to date since 1997, documenting the pollinators of 58 genera and about 165 species. In particular, pollinators from 17 new genera are presented, namely: Aglaonema, Anaphyllopis, Biarum, Dracontioides, Eminium, Furtadoa, Gearum, Lagenandra, Pinellia, Piptospatha, Pothos, Rhaphidophora, Sauromatum, Schismatoglottis, Scindapsus, Steudnera and Theriophonum. These numbers are still very low in comparison with the diversity of the Araceae family which contains 125 genera and about 3,500 species (Boyce & Croat, 2016). It is important to note that the list given in the Table below does not distinguish between pollinators and visitors.

Table : Adapted from Mayo, Bogner and Boyce (1997) and Grayum (1984, 1986, 1990) with new and updated references on aroid pollinators/visitors until 2010. Araceae subfamilies and tribes follow Mayo, Bogner and Boyce (1997).

Subfamily / tribe	Genera	Bees	Beetles	Flies	Others
Orontioideae	Lysichiton		Staphylinidae	Anthomyiidae Lauxaniidae Various flies
Orontioideae	Symplocarpus	"hive bees" Honey bees	Staphylinidae	Drosophilidae Psychodidae Chloropidae Ceratopogonidae Chironomidae Simuliidae Cecidomyiidae Muscidae	Wind (self-pollination) Various invertebrates
Pothoideae / Anthurieae	Anthurium	Euglossine	Curculionidae Staphylinidae		Self-pollination (wind?) Hummingbird
Pothoideae / Potheae	Pothos	hymenoptera
Monsteroideae / Spathiphylleae	Spathiphyllum	Euglossine
Monsteroideae / Monstereae	Monstera	Trigone	Nitidulidae Scarabaeidae
Monsteroideae / Monstereae	Rhaphidophora	hymenoptera	Scarabaeidae
Monsteroideae / Monstereae	Rhodospatha		"beetles"
Monsteroideae / Monstereae	Scindapsus			Drosophilidae
Monsteroideae / Spathiphylleae	Spathiphyllum	Euglossine Trigone Halictidae	Chrysomelidae	Drosophilidae Tephritidae
Lasioideae	Anaphyllopsis				Nocturnal insects? Cockroaches?
Lasioideae	Cyrtosperma		Nitidulidae
Lasioideae	Dracontium		beetles	flies
Lasioideae	Dracontioides			flies
Lasioideae	Urospatha		Nitidulidae
Calloideae	Calla		"small beetles"	Syrphidae "small flies"
Aroideae / Spathicarpeae	Gearum		Dynastinae	(Richardiidae)
Aroideae / Spathicarpeae	Taccarum		Dynastinae	(Richardiidae)
Aroideae / Spathicarpeae	Dieffenbachia		Dynastinae
Aroideae / Philodendreae	Philodendron		Dynastinae
Aroideae / Homalomeneae	Furtadoa		Chrysomelidae	Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Homalomeneae	Homalomena		Scarabaeidae (neotropics) Scarabaeidae Chrysomelidae (Asia)	Drosophilidae (Asia)
Aroideae / Montrichardieae	Montrichardia	"bees"	Dynastinae
Aroideae / Anubieae	Anubias		Nitidulidae Scarabaeidae
Aroideae / Schismatoglottideae	Aridarum		Nitidulidae
Aroideae / Schismatoglottideae	Piptospatha		Staphylinidae	Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Schismatoglottideae	Schismatoglottis			Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Caladieae	Caladium		Dynastinae
Aroideae / Caladieae	Chlorospatha		Staphylinidae
Aroideae / Caladieae	Syngonium		Scarabaeidae
Aroideae / Caladieae	Xanthosoma	Euglossine	Dynastinae (Nitidulidae)	Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Thomsonieae	Amorphophallus	Trigone	Asilidae Cetoniidae Nitidulidae Scarabaeidae Rutelinae Silphidae Staphylinidae Hybosoridae Histeridae	Calliphoridae Platystomatidae Drosophilidae Muscidae
Aroideae / Aglaonemateae	Aglaonema			Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Zantedeschieae	Zantedeschia		Scarabaeidae Scydmaenidae
Aroideae / Nephthytideae	Anchomanes	Trigone	Nitidulidae	Lonchaeidae
Aroideae / Nephthytideae	Nephthytis		Nitidulidae	Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Nephthytideae	Pseudohydrosme		Scaphidiidae Staphylinidae	Choridae Sphaeroceridae
Aroideae / Culcasieae	Cercestis		Nitidulidae	Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Culcasieae	Culcasia		Nitidulidae	Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Colocasieae	Alocasia		Nitidulidae Scarabaeidae Staphylinidae	Drosophilidae Anthomyiidae Neurochaetidae
Aroideae / Colocasieae	Colocasia			Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Colocasieae	Steudnera			Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Cryptocoryneae	Cryptocoryne			Ceratopogonidae Ephydridae Phoridae Sphaeroceridae
Aroideae / Cryptocoryneae	Lagenandra			Diptera
Aroideae / Peltandreae	Peltandra			Chloropidae Syrphidae
Aroideae / Arisamateae	Arisaema			Sciaridae Mycetophilidae Dolichopodidae Phoridae Keroplatidae	Thrips
Aroideae / Arisamateae	Pinellia			"fungus gnat" Ceratopogonidae
Aroideae / Arisareae	Arisarum			Mycetophilidae Sciaridae Psychodidae Chironomidae Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Ambrosineae	Ambrosina			"flies"?	Mites? Ants?
Aroideae / Pistieae	Pistia		"Curculionids"
Aroideae / Areae	Arum			Psychodidae Centropogonidae Ceratopogonidae Sphaeroceridae Sciaridae Simuliidae Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Areae	Biarum		Scarabaeidae Staphylinidae	Flies? Sepsidae Empididae Drosophilidae
Aroideae / Areae	Dracunculus		Staphylinidae Dermestidae Histeridae Sylphidae	Calliphoridae Muscidae Sarcophagidae Fanniidae Piophilidae
Aroideae / Areae	Eminium		Scarabaeidae Staphylinidae	Sphaeroceridae Sepsidae Ortidae Muscidae Ulidiidae Heleomyzidae Ephydridae
Aroideae / Areae	Helicodiceros			Calliphoridae
Aroideae / Areae	Sauromatum		Scarabaeidae Bruchidae	Sepsidae Muscidae Otitidae Sarcophagidae Calliphoridae
Aroideae / Areae	Theriophonum		Staphylinidae	Ceratopogonidae
Aroideae / Areae	Typhonium		Scarabaeidae Staphylinidae Nitidulidae Ptiliidae Scydmaenidae

Boyce, P. C. & T. B. Croat, T.B. 2016. The Uberlist of Araceae. Website (continuously updated) http://www.aroid.org/genera/160330uberlist.pdf.

Gibernau M. 2011. Pollinators and visitors of Aroid inflorescences : an addendum. Aroideana 34 : 70-83.

Gibernau M. 2003. Pollinators and visitors of Aroid inflorescences. Aroideana 26 : 66-83.

Grayum, M. H. 1984. Palynology and phylogeny of the Araceae. Botany Ph.D. Dissertation. Univ. Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts.

Grayum, M. H. 1986. Correlations between pollination biology and pollen morphology in the Araceae, with some implications for angiosperm evolution. Pollen and Spores: Form and Function. I. K. Ferguson & S. Blackmore. London, Elsevier Press: 313--327.

Grayum, M. H. 1990. Evolution and phylogeny of the Araceae. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 77: 628--697.

Mayo, S. J., J. Bogner and P. C. Boyce 1997. The genera of Araceae. Kew, The Trustees, Royal Botanical Gardens.