Nectar robbing is a foraging behavior used by some organisms that feed on floral nectar, carried out by feeding from holes bitten in flowers, rather than by entering through the flowers' natural openings. Nectar robbers usually feed in this way, avoiding contact with the floral reproductive structures, and therefore do not facilitate plant reproduction via pollination. Because many species that act as pollinators also act as nectar robbers, nectar robbing is considered to be a form of exploitation of plant-pollinator mutualism. While there is variation in the dependency on nectar for robber species, most species rob facultatively (that is, to supplement their diets, rather than as an absolute necessity).
Nectar robbers vary greatly in species diversity and include species of carpenter bees, bumblebees, stingless Trigona bees, solitary bees, wasps, ants, hummingbirds, and some passerine birds, including flowerpiercers.[1] Nectar-robbing mammals include the fruit bat[2] and Swinhoe's striped squirrel, which rob nectar from the ginger plant.[3]
- ^ Maloof, J. E.; Inouye, D. W. (2000). "Are nectar robbers cheaters or mutualists?". Ecology. 81 (10): 2651–2661. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.463.752. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2000)081[2651:ANRCOM]2.0.CO;2.
- ^ Olmos, F.; Boulhosa, R. (2000). A meeting of opportunists: birds and other visitors to Mabea fistulifera (Euphorbiaceae) in florescences. Ararajuba 8(2):93–98.
- ^ Deng, X.; Ren, P.; Gao, J.; Li, Q. (2004). The Striped Squirrel (Tamiops swinhoei hainanus) as a Nectar Robber of Ginger (Alpinia kwangsiensis). Biotropica. 36(4):633–636.