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IMAGE: A Bombus consobrinus queen visiting a L. album var. barbatum flower in the Mitsumata population. view more
Credit: Tsubasa Toji, Shinshu University
The morphological compatibility between flowers and insects was given in the famous textbook example of Darwin s orchids and hawkmoths. As in this example, many studies have shown that geographical variations in flower size match the size of insects in each region. In other words, studies have shown flower-sized regional adaptation in which large flowers evolve in areas pollinated by large insects and small flowers evolve in areas pollinated by small insects.
However, when examining the genetic similarity between populations, are plants in each region more similar, or are plants with large (or small) flower sizes across nearing regions more similar? This has remained unknown until this study led by doctoral candidate Tsubasa Toji of Shinshu University s Professor Takao Itino lab. The team used white nettle