Oil flowers of Malpighiaceae and its oil-collecting bees: loyalty and robbery in a highly specialized system

Plant-pollinator interactions are generally mutualistic, but if one of the partners can get rewards without providing any services in return, these become antagonistic. In oil flower syndrome, highly specialized system suggests a high degree mutualism; however, there reports illegitimate oil-collecting bees flowers Malpighiaceae. We evaluated legitimate and visits to 15 species this plant family along latitudinal gradient Argentina. Our results show that robbery most Malpighiaceae analyzed was as common collection resource by bees, significant differences proportion gradient, being more southern sites.