Pollination and coevolution – flowers and pollinators, courtship and evolutionary arms races
BiologyEvolutionAges 16–17
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Sign in to playFour screens on reproductive success: design a flower (colour, scent, nectar, corolla tube, opening time, outcrossing or selfing) and count visits by bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths and bats and the seeds produced; compare insect and wind pollination; help a male stickleback balance courtship display and nest guarding to raise the most fry; and watch corolla tube and moth tongue, or host resistance and parasite virulence, coevolve over generations with R = h²S.
Lesson: Sexual reproduction in flowering plants: animal and wind pollination, cross- and self-pollination; reproductive behaviour in animals; coevolution
What it shows
This simulation explores how plant structures and animal behaviour affect reproductive success, for ages 11–18. Students design a flower and count visits by five pollinator groups, seeds from cross- and self-pollination and surviving seedlings; compare insect- and wind-pollinated flowers; trade off a stickleback's courtship display against nest guarding; and watch two species coevolve. Model: pollinator preferences, tongue lengths and survival rates are rounded textbook-style values, selfed seeds suffer 50% inbreeding depression, and trait means change by the breeder's equation R = h²S.
How to use
On Flowers and pollinators, set Flower colour, Scent, Nectar per flower, Corolla tube length, Flowers open and Breeding system, then press Run one day or Run 10 days (mean). On Insect or wind, move Wind speed, Distance between plants and Insect visits per flower. On Courtship and care, set the sliders and press Run one season. On Coevolution, choose the Species pair and press +10 generations or Play.
Parameters you can change
- Starting screen Flowers and pollinators, Insect or wind, Courtship and care, Coevolution
- Flower colour Red, Pink, Yellow, Blue-violet, White, Pale green
- Scent No scent, Light, sweet, Strong, sweet, Musky, fermented
- Nectar per flower 0–20 µL
- Corolla tube length 0–40 mm
- Flowers open By day, At night
- Breeding system Outcrossing only (self-incompatible), Self-compatible (own pollen can fertilise), Self-pollinates if visitors are scarce
- Wind speed (Insect or wind screen) 0–12 m/s
- Distance between plants (Insect or wind screen) 1–50 m
- Male stickleback courtship display (0–10) 0–10 level
- Time spent guarding and fanning the nest 0–100 %
- Rival males' display (0–10) 0–10 level
- Predators (Courtship and care screen) Few, Many
- Coevolving species pair Flower tube – moth tongue, Host – parasite
- Heritability h² (Coevolution screen) 0.1–1
- Cost of the trait (Coevolution screen) 0.1–1
Questions to explore
- Which pollinator visits a red, long-tubed, scentless flower with plenty of nectar most often, and why?
- Why must wind-pollinated plants make far more pollen grains than insect-pollinated plants?
- With many predators, which courtship display level leaves a male stickleback the most surviving fry?
