Studying the Preferences of Disease‐Transmitting Pollinators in an Alpine Population of Wild Carnations

Photo 1: The inset shows a Dianthus pavonius flower infected with the Microbotryum. anthers of plant are covered in dark brown teliospores. background setup floral arrays that were used to test pollinator observations. Three triangular blocks set up 15 tubes two cut virgin flowers per tube. Within block, all one type: diseased, healthy hermaphrodite, or female. We observed number visits each block. credit: Background: Laura Pierce and Inset: Michael Hood. 2: A small beetle diseased within experimental array. 3: Naturally occurring hermaphrodite (left) (right) plants field. Emily Bruns. 4: Field site near Rifugio Garelli Parco Naturale del Marguareis. grassy meadow featured is at 1900 m D. present throughout. 5: array ready for arrays. experiment was designed carried out by undergraduate students University Virginia Amherst College. Above: (UVA) gives instructions Mauve McNamara (Amherst) These photographs illustrate article “Vector preference heterogeneity host sex ratio can affect pathogen spread natural populations” Bruns, Pierce, Janis Antonovics, Hood published Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3246.