Fig 1.
The C. songaricum plant studied and the visiting insects.
(a) C. songaricum during the emergence period; (b) C. songaricum during the flowering period; (c) C. songaricum during the fruiting period; (d) Ants on C. songaricum, carrying seeds; (e) Beetles on C. songaricum, feeding on the seeds and fleshy stems. (a), (b) bars = 1 cm; (c) bar = 1 mm; (d), (e) bars = 2 cm.
Table 1.
Identity of C. songaricum seed consumers and the duration of their visits within a 24-hour period.
Table 2.
Intact C. songaricum seeds in M. semenowi feces under different feeding modes.
Fig 2.
Scanning electron microscopy of intact C. songaricum seeds collected from M. semenowi feces at different times.
(a-b) natural seeds. (c-d) non-elaiosome seeds. (e-f) intact seeds collected from M. semenowi feces 6 h later. (g-h) intact seeds collected from M. semenowi feces 12 h later. (i-j) intact seeds collected from M. semenowi feces 24 h later. (k-l) intact seeds collected from M. semenowi feces 48 h later. (a), (c), (e), (g), (i), (k), bars = 100 μm, (b), (d), (f), (h), (j), (l), bars = 10 μm.
Fig 3.
Anatomy of the digestive tract of M. semenowi after feeding at different times.
(a-c) Anatomy of the digestive tract of M. semenowi 6 h after feeding; (d-f) Anatomy of the digestive tract of M. semenowi 12 h after feeding; (g-i) Anatomy of the digestive tract of M. semenowi 24 h after feeding; (j-l) Anatomy of the digestive tract of M. semenowi 48 h after feeding; (a), (d), (g), (j), bars = 5 mm; (b), (e), (f), (h), bars = 2 mm; (c), (i), (k), (l), bars = 1 mm.
Fig 4.
The morphology of C. songaricum seeds after staying in the M. desertora nests after increasing time durations at a macroscale.
(a, e) The state of the seeds after staying in the M. desertora nest for 6 h; (b-f) the state of the seeds after staying in the M. desertora nest for 12 h; (c-g) the state of the seeds after staying in the M. desertora nest for 24 h; (d-h) the state of the seeds after staying in the M. desertora nest for 48 h.(a-d) Bars = 2 mm. (e-h) Bars = 1 mm.
Table 3.
Portion of the active seeds of C. songaricum in fecal and M. desertora nest.
Fig 5.
Visiting frequency of insects to the C. songaricum infructescence under different treatments.
Fig 6.
Schematic diagram of C. songaricum seed propagation.