[Aroid-l] Philodendrons produce infrared light???

From: Steve at ExoticRainforest.com (ExoticRainforest) on 2008.05.23 at 18:38:30(17606) One thing I didn't make clear in this post that I should! Marc Gibernau is one of the top aroid pollination researchers in the world. If there is a possible connection between infrared and pollinator attractants, Marc is likely to be involved in learning about the processes involved. Just another good reason you all should be proud to be a apart of Aroid l and the IAS! Steve Lucas +More www.ExoticRainforest.com This morning Julius and I received a private response from Marc Gibernau in regard to the observation originally proposed by British engineer Chris Rennie on the University of British Colombia (UBC) plant discussion forum about "infrared light" and a spadix in anthesis. You can read Marc's original response to Aroid l just below this message. The possibility of whether infrared heat may or may not additionally serve to propel thermogenic attractants to aroid pollinators is obviously incomplete. As to whether or not infrared (IR) acts as any sort of homing device for the beetle pollinators of Philodendron or other aroid species, at least research is apparently being done. And there is a possibility it may assist! It is known that many insects can and do use IR to find both light and prey. A private message from entomologist Christopher Rogers explains more and I've included that in this post. But can these beetles which are the natural pollinators of many aroids be attracted to the spadix of an inflorescence entering anthesis as a result of infrared heat as well? To a beetle does the "glowing" spadix appear as a beacon in the night with a sign yelling "eat here, rest here, have sex here?". If you read my post on UBC to Chris which I also posted on Aroid l you will see I proposed the long range attractant may be the pheromone and a short range attractant could be the infrared heat. I have no idea if that is possible! But work is apparently being done to learn more. This is the message from Marc this morning, "Yes heating inflorescences are spot visible in the IR up to 15 meters according to our IR camera. Some beetles (laying in burnt woods) are known to have IR receptors to localize the forest fires. I sent some Cyclocephala (Philodendron pollinators) in Germany for detecting IR receptors but the results were negative. But the fact is that IR attraction is possible, I will continue on this topic, particularly with a Brazilian student. All the best, Marc" -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/private/aroid-l/attachments/20080523/b8a56212/attachment-0001.htm

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