The largest early-diverging angiosperm family is mostly pollinated by ovipositing insects and so are most surviving lineages of early angiosperms

Insect pollination in basal angiosperms is assumed to mostly involve ‘generalized’ insects looking for food, but direct observation of ANITA grade (283 species) pollinators are sparse. We present new data for numerous Schisandraceae, the largest ANITA family, from field work, nocturnal filming, electron microscopy, barcoding, and molecular clocks to infer pollinator/plant interactions over multiple years at sites throughout China to test the extent of pollinator specificity. Schisandraceae are pollinated by nocturnal gall midges that lay eggs in the flowers and whose larvae then feed on floral exudates. At least three Schisandraceae have shifted to beetle pollination. Pollination by a single midge species predominates, but one species was pollinated by different species at three locations and one by two at the same location. Based on molecular clocks, gall midges and Schisandraceae may have interacted since at least the Early Miocene. Combining these data with a review of all published ...基部被子植物（basal angiosperms）的昆虫传粉通常被认为主要依赖于以觅食为目的的“泛化”昆虫，但针对ANITA类群（ANITA grade，共283个物种）的传粉者直接观测数据仍较为匮乏。本研究针对ANITA类群中最大的科——五味子科（Schisandraceae）的多个类群，通过野外调查、夜间摄像、电子显微镜分析、DNA条形码（barcoding）技术与分子钟（molecular clocks）分析，获取了多组全新数据；研究团队在中国全境多个研究站点开展了多年观测，以推断传粉者与植物间的互作关系，并检验传粉特异性（pollinator specificity）的程度。研究发现，五味子科的传粉者为夜间活动的瘿蚊（gall midges），这类昆虫会在花内产卵，其幼虫以花部分泌物为食；至少有3种五味子科植物已演化出依赖甲虫传粉的策略。单一瘿蚊物种主导传粉的模式较为普遍，但有1种五味子科植物在3个不同站点分别由不同的瘿蚊传粉物种传粉，另有1种在同一站点由2种瘿蚊共同传粉。基于分子钟分析结果，瘿蚊与五味子科的互作关系至少可追溯至中新世早期（Early Miocene）。本研究将上述数据与所有已发表的相关综述相结合……