The functional ecology of nectar guides in relation to insect behaviour and vision.

The present article reviews the common hypotheses concerning the ecological and evolutionary implications of nectar guides. We examine the natural display of floral guides in relation to the recent findings and theories on the visual perception, recognition and data processing of insects as related to colours, shape and pattern. Taking into consideration that the colour vision of bees was also present when the angiosperme evolved (Chittka 1996), it is assumed that the floral colour and pattern signals (including floral guides) evolved as a response to the angiosperme of the insect’s pre-existing neurophysiological mechanisms rather than as a close co-evolutionary process.