![]() ![]() Although bilateral flowers had significantly lower flower-size variation than radial flowers, flower-size variation did not vary with pollinator diversity and composition but was instead related to bilateral symmetry. ![]() Bilateral flowers were more frequently visited than radial flowers by larger bees, but functional-group diversity of the pollinators did not differ between symmetry types. We examined pollinator diversity and composition and flower-size variation for 36 species in a seminatural ecosystem with high bee richness and frequent lepidopteran visitation. To test the three hypotheses, we examined the relative importance of pollinator diversity, composition, and bilateral symmetry itself as selective forces on low flower-size variation. In this study, we propose two other hypotheses to explain low flower-size variation in bilateral symmetrical flowers. This phenomenon supports the hypothesis that the lower size variation in bilateral flowers can be attributed to low pollinator diversity. The evolutionary shift from radial to bilateral symmetry in flowers is generally associated with the evolution of low flower-size variation. Nikkeshi, Aoi Kurimoto, Daiki Ushimaru, Atushi Low flower-size variation in bilaterally symmetrical flowers: Support for the pollination precision hypothesis. ![]()
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