Insect pollination in the cycad genus Bowenia hook. ex hook. f. (Stangeriaceae)

Abstract

All confirmed records of entomophilic pollination in cycads are for species in the Zamiaceae. This paper presents details of entomophily in both species of Bowenia in the Stangeriaceae. Seed set in female cones from which wind and water-borne pollen, but not insects, was excluded, indicates that pollination is obligately entomophilous. The pollination vectors are Miltotranes weevils and the relationships are species-specific and possibly coevolutionary.