DOI: 10.5061/dryad.xd2547dt4
title: Temporal variation in floral scent emission of a woody plant and flower visiting behaviour of male and female flies

description: Most flowering plants rely on insects for pollination and flowers are
 advertised using odor and visual cues. Flower scent consists of a complex
 blend of volatile compounds of which the emission can vary over time (and
 space) within species. Pollinator foraging behaviour, such as the choice
 for flowers and the time spent gathering nectar and/or pollen, can also
 show significant intraspecific variation. Underlying variation in
 pollinator behaviour can be sensory or foraging-related biases among sexes
 or individuals. Investigating the role of temporal variation in floral
 volatiles on visitation behaviour of male and female pollinators is
 largely unexplored. We examined temporal variation in the emission of
 scent of yellowhorn Xanthoceras sorbifolium flowers, visitation behaviour
 of its main pollinators, male and female Bibio rufiventris flies, and
 their responses to floral volatile compounds using field experiments and
 controlled bioassays. Our results show significant daily fluctuations in
 floral volatile emission of X. sorbifolium in the field. The relative
 emission of 1-octen-3-ol, 1-octanol, benzaldehyde, and α-farnesene
 increased from 9:00 to 15:00 h, while (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol,
 (E)-2-hexenal, 2-methyl-6-hepten-1-ol, (E)-2-nonenal,
 2,6,6-trimethyl-2-cyclohexene-1-methanol, (E)-2-nonenal, and
 (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal decreased. In concert, we observed an increase in
 visits and visitation duration for male pollinators, but a decrease for
 female visitation duration. Pollinators exhibited sex-specific responses
 to floral volatiles, with attraction to 1-octen-3-ol and 1-octanol for B.
 rufiventris males, while (E)-2-nonenal, (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, and
 (E)-2-hexenal attracted females. Our study shows that temporal variation
 in floral scent may explain differences in flower visitation by male and
 female pollinators through sex-specific responses to floral volatiles.
 Investigating sex-based differences exhibited by pollinators and temporal
 variation in floral scent emission will help understand the dynamic nature
 of plant–pollinator interactions.
description: # Temporal variation in floral scent emission of a woody plant and flower
 visiting behaviour of male and female flies
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xd2547dt4](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xd2547dt4) ## Description of the data and file structure We collected the data of visitation behavior, floral scents, field trap in the field, and the data of Y-tube from the lab.  ### Files and variables ## Data of Temporal variation and sex-specific pollinator behavior DOI:10.5061/dryad.xd2547dt4 We have submitted our raw data of abbreviation (*Abbreviation.xlsx*), floral scents (*Data_of_floral_scents.xlsx*), visitation behavior of flies (*Data_of_visitation_behavior.xlsx*), Y-tube bioassay results (*Data_of_Y_tube.xlsx*), field trap experiment results (*Data_of_field_trap.xlsx*), and R script (*Code_Temporal_variation_and_sex-specific_pollinator_behavior.R*). ### Description of the data and file structure \###*Abbreviation.xlsx* T: Time point, e.g. three time point: 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00. D: Date, four sampling dates. P: Plant individual, three plant individuals observed each sampling date. B: Block, five blocks were set up in the field trap experiment. S: Sex, female and male. SF: Female SM: Male N: Number of catches, the number of flies catches in the trap using lures in the filed trap experiment. C1: (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol C2: (E)-2-hexen-1-ol C3: (E)-2-hexenal C4: 1-heptanol C5: 1-octen-3-ol C6: 2-methyl-6-hepten-1-ol C7: 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one C8: 1-decanol C9: Benzaldehyde C10: 1-octanol C11: Nonanal C12: Decyl alcohol C13: (E)-2-nonenal C14: (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal C15: Decanal C16: Tridecane C17: 2,6,6-trimethyl-2- cyclohexene-1-methanol C18: Methyl salicylate C19: β-cyclocitral C20: β-Bourbonene C21: β-Cubebene C22: β-Cubebene-4 C23: β-Amorphene C24: α-Farnesene C25: Cedrene C26: Elixene C27: Cadina-3,9-diene FVT: Female visitation time MVT: Male visitation time FA: Female abundance MA: Male abundance F+MA: Both female and male abundance CH1: Solvent CH2: 1-Octen-3-ol CH3: 1-Octanol CH4: (E)-2-Nonenal CH5: (E,Z)-2,6-Nonadienal CH6: (E)-2-hexen-1-ol CH7: (E)-2-hexenal CH8: α-Farnesene \###*floral scents.xlsx* T: Time point, e.g. three time point: 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00. D: Date, four sampling dates. P: Plant individual, three plant individuals observed each sampling date. C1-C27, different floral scents measured, and detailed name see *Abbreviation.xlsx*. \###*visitation behavior.xlsx* T: Time point, e.g. three time point: 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00. D: Date, four sampling dates. P: Plant individual, three plant individuals observed each sampling date. FVT: Female visitation time MVT: Male visitation time FA: Female abundance MA: Male abundance F+MA: Both female and male abundance \###*Y-tube.xlsx* SF: Female SM: Male 1-Octen-3-ol, 1-Octanol, Benzaldehyde, (E)-2-Nonenal, (E,Z)-2,6-Nonadienal, (E,Z)-2,6-Nonadienal, 3-hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-hexenal, and α-Farnesene were tested chemicals. Paraffin: the solvent. Number was indicated the fly individuals that preferred to the chemicals. No choice, the number of flies that did not select one of the two chemicals. Total number, the sum of flies that was used in the each chemical teset. \###*field trap.xlsx* S: Sex, female and male. SF: Female SM: Male N: Number of catches, the number of flies catches in the trap using lures in the filed CH1: Solvent CH2: 1-Octen-3-ol CH3: 1-Octanol CH4: (E)-2-Nonenal CH5: (E,Z)-2,6-Nonadienal CH6: (E)-2-hexen-1-ol CH7: (E)-2-hexenal CH8: α-Farnesene ## Code/software R is required to run * Code of temporal variation and sex-specific pollinator behavior.R *; the script was created using version 4.4.0. Annotations are provided throughout the script through 1) library loading, 2) dataset loading and cleaning, 3) analyses, and 4) figure creation of several figures.