The flower visitors to Wedelia grandiflora (Asteraceae) in coastal Ecuador

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• published: 02 Jul 2014
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Wedelia grandiflora (Asteraceae, the sunflower family) is a shrub of yellow inflorescences, endemic to the Equatorial-Pacific deciduous dry forests. It is a persistent species in highly disturbed xerophytic areas under 800 mm of average annual precipitation. The type was collected in Guayaquil by the British naturalist Andrew Sinclair, a team member of H.M.S. Sulphur expedition around the world that visited the coast of Ecuador on 1838. As most of native species of plants at Equatorial-Pacific dry forests, the flower visitors and pollinators of Wedelia grandiflora are unknown. The aims of this video are: i) record for first time the most common flower visitors of Wedelia grandiflora, and ii) highlight the critical role for survival of entomofauna that could represent an overlooked native shrub in highly disturbed xerophytic areas of western Ecuador and northwestern Peru. In this video, approximately 30 species of insects have been recorded as flower visitors of Wedelia grandiflora, those are looking for nectar, pollen or both. As dozens of additional species of insects and arachnids that visit the flowers of Wedelia grandiflora are not recorded, the total number of floral visitors for the species is unknown. The images have been gathered during just three weeks, at the weakly rainy season of Manabi province, on March 2014.