Ecological Significance of Mucilage in Catchfly (Silene armeria): Impact on the Behavior of Nectar Robbers and Pollinators

Background and Objective: Silene armeria is also known as catchfly because it is characterized by a mucilaginous area under the leaves on the upper part of the stem.It has been observed that insects are trapped by this sticky substance.This study investigated whether ants visit flowers when catchfly mucilage is removed.Materials and Methods: The plant specimens with and without mucilage were prepared and the response of insects to these two types of plant specimens were compared.Results: This study did not observe ants visiting flowers even when the mucilage on the stem was removed.However, it was observed that stems with mucilage tended to have more pollinators than stems without mucilage.Furthermore, it was observed that pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and Syrphinae, prefer stems with mucilage to stems without mucilage.Also observed was that the fruit set rate and seed size of the stems without mucilage was lower when compared to plants with intact mucilage.When comparing plants without mucilage to plants that were covered with net (bagged) the fruit set rate and the seed size are comparable, showing that self-fertilization took place.Conclusion: Consequently, it is suggested that plants without mucilage had a low rate of cross-pollination.The results of this study, suggest that catchfly (Silene armeria) mucilage affects pollinator attraction.