Publication Date:
2024-01-12
Description:
The achlorophyllous mycotroph Afrothismia kupensis (Thismiaceae), formerly misidentified either as
\nA. pachyantha or as A. gesnerioides, is described from Mt Kupe in South West Region, Cameroon and assessed
\nas Critically Endangered using the IUCN (2012) categories and criteria. It is threatened by forest clearance due
\nto small-holder agriculture. Mt Kupe, with four of the 16 described species of Afrothismia, three of which are site
\nendemics, is now the most species-diverse location known globally for the genus. Observations of floral visitors over
\nseven days resulted in the identification of the likely pollinator as being females of an unknown species of Phoridae
\n(scuttle fly) probably of the genus Megaselia. This is the first record of pollination known in the Thismiaceae, and
\nmay represent a mutualism between plant and animal partners.
Keywords:
Plant Science
;
Ecology
;
Evolution
;
Behavior and Systematics
;
achlorophyllous mycotroph
;
conservation
;
Glomales
;
Megaselia
;
mutualism
;
Phoridae
;
pollination
;
Rhizophagus
Repository Name:
National Museum of Natural History, Netherlands
Type:
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Format:
application/pdf
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