Review on flower-visiting behaviour of orthopterans and setting priorities for further studies

Abstract

The importance of pollination and pollinators is easy to underestimate and impossible to overstate, since its importance goes far beyond the crop production and even the maintenance of plant populations. Most terrestrial ecosystems ultimately depend on the plant-pollinator interactions formed by million years coevolution. This is essential for both the daily functioning of the ecosystems and the long-term development of biodiversity. At the same time, the loss of biodiversity caused by climate change and human activities will soon lead to an ecological crisis, a catastrophe, which could endanger our life: For example, through the decline and loss of various ecosystem services. Such may be the pollination crisis, resulted from a significant loss of pollinating insects' diversity and abundance. The discovery of a pollinator Orthoptera species has encouraged researchers in the densely populated region of Indo-Malaysia to explore the potential role of orthopterans as pollinators. Although the flower visitation of some species has been already known, the role of orthopterans in pollination is scarcely revealed. Here, we collected and reviewed the available data in order to point out some factors of their importance and set priorities that may serve as a basis for further investigations regarding ecological, evolutionary and practical points of view.

Keywords: Chemical ecology; Ecosystem services; Evolution; Flower visitation; Pollination.