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1. Plant–pollinator interactions are crucial for the reproduction of most angiosperms. When faced with perturbations, plant–pollinator networks might be robust mainly due to the presence of highly generalist species. Perturbations can, in turn, affect how pollinators exploit their food sources and therefore their degree of generalization. 2. In particular, generalization of pollinators might vary with forager density. At high densities floral resources available in plant communities would be more rapidly depleted than at low densities. According to optimal foraging theory (OFT), this decrease in resources should lead to an increase in diet breadth. 3. We investigated the impact of pollinator density on diet breadth of Bombus terrestris. We recorded the individual foraging behaviour of bumblebees from eight colonies. They foraged in presence of either one or several conspecifics on experimental plant communities composed of five plant species. Diet breadth was calculated as the number of plant species visited, as well as by the Levins index. We analyzed the effect of forager density on diet breadth at both the individual and the colony levels. 4. We found that forager density affected degree of generalization at individual and colony levels. A more competitive environment increased individual generalization, as predicted by OFT, and decreased the variability in generalization across colonies. Moreover, we found that bumblebee size was positively related to the amplitude of diet breadth change. 5. Synthesis. Our study sheds light on an additional level of complexity of plant–pollinator systems, showing that pollinator diet breadth is a flexible trait which results from behavioural adaptation to resource availability. More generally, changes in foraging insects’ diet via competition for resources are likely to ensue from anthropogenic ecosystem disturbance and to impact upon the functioning of plant–pollinator networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flower colour is a major advertisement signal of zoophilous plants for pollinators. Bees, the main pollinators, exhibit innate colour preferences, which have often been attributed to only one single floral colour, though most flowers display a pattern of two or several colours. The existing studies of floral colour patterns are mostly qualitative studies. Using a model of bee colour vision we quantitatively investigate two questions: whether or not component colours of floral colour patterns may mimic pollen signals, and whether or not bumblebees exhibit innate preferences for distinct parameters of naturally existing floral colour patterns. We analysed the spectral reflectances of 162 plant species with multicoloured flowers and inflorescences, distiniguishing between inner and outer colours of floral colour patterns irrespective of the particular structures so coloured.We found that:- The inner colour of radially symmetrical flowers and inflorescences and of zygomorphic flowers appears less diverse to bees than the peripheral colour.- The inner colour of most radial flowers and inflorescences as well as the inner colour of a large number of non-related zygomorphic flowers appears to bees to be very similar to that of pollen.- Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) exhibit innate preferences for two-coloured over single-coloured dummy flowers in a spontaneous choice test.- Bumblebees exhibit innate preferences for dummy flowers with a large over those with a small centre area.- Bumblebees exhibit innate preferences for dummy flowers with a centre colour similar to that of pollen over those with another centre colour.Our findings support the hypotheses that the inner component of floral colour patterns could be interpreted as a generalised and little recognised form of mimicry of the colour of visually displayed pollen, that bumblebees exhibit innate preferences regarding colour and size parameters of floral colour patterns, and that these correspond to visually displayed pollen. These findings together suggest a prominent role of floral colour patterns in advertisement to and guidance of naive flower visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]