{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6106"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6106","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Pollen digestion in flower-feeding Scarabaeidae : protea beetles (Cetoniini) and monkey beetles (Hopliini)","abstract":"Beetles pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants and feed on the two most common floral rewards, nectar and pollen. Pollen is nutritionally very valuable, being a rich protein and carbohydrate source. However, the hard and highly resistant outer wall (exine) of the grain is an obstacle that pollen-feeders must overcome in order to benefit from the pollen's nutritious protoplasm. There are a variety of mechanisms that pollen-feeders may use to deal with the exine. Collembolans secrete exinase that breaks down the wall, but other pollen-feeders do not produce this enzyme. Pollen-feeders that are unable to ingest grains may either pierce the grain and suck out the contents (thrips and biting-flies) or cause the grain contents to leach out an imbibe the leachate (butterflies and the eucalupt nectar fly). Pollen-feeders that can ingest the grains (bees, syrphid flies, rodents, marsupials, bats and birds) may use osmotic shock, pseudo-germination, exudation, microbial digestion or enzyme penetration to gain access to the protoplasmic contents. Further study is needed to define the details of these methods and whether they are all in use.","abstract_html":"Beetles pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants and feed on the two most common floral rewards, nectar and pollen. Pollen is nutritionally very valuable, being a rich protein and carbohydrate source. However, the hard and highly resistant outer wall (exine) of the grain is an obstacle that pollen-feeders must overcome in order to benefit from the pollen's nutritious protoplasm. There are a variety of mechanisms that pollen-feeders may use to deal with the exine. Collembolans secrete exinase that breaks down the wall, but other pollen-feeders do not produce this enzyme. Pollen-feeders that are unable to ingest grains may either pierce the grain and suck out the contents (thrips and biting-flies) or cause the grain contents to leach out an imbibe the leachate (butterflies and the eucalupt nectar fly). Pollen-feeders that can ingest the grains (bees, syrphid flies, rodents, marsupials, bats and birds) may use osmotic shock, pseudo-germination, exudation, microbial digestion or enzyme penetration to gain access to the protoplasmic contents. Further study is needed to define the details of these methods and whether they are all in use.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Johnson, Shelley"],"institution":"Department of Biological Sciences","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Nicolson, Sue W","Tets, Ian G van"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2000,"date_issued":"2000","date_published":"2000","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:44Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6106","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Nicolson, Sue W","Tets, Ian G van"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Johnson, Shelley"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-08-13T14:03:34Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-13T14:03:34Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2000"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Biological Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MSc"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6106"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Bibliography: leaves 95-104."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Beetles pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants and feed on the two most common floral rewards, nectar and pollen. Pollen is nutritionally very valuable, being a rich protein and carbohydrate source. However, the hard and highly resistant outer wall (exine) of the grain is an obstacle that pollen-feeders must overcome in order to benefit from the pollen's nutritious protoplasm. There are a variety of mechanisms that pollen-feeders may use to deal with the exine. Collembolans secrete exinase that breaks down the wall, but other pollen-feeders do not produce this enzyme. Pollen-feeders that are unable to ingest grains may either pierce the grain and suck out the contents (thrips and biting-flies) or cause the grain contents to leach out an imbibe the leachate (butterflies and the eucalupt nectar fly). Pollen-feeders that can ingest the grains (bees, syrphid flies, rodents, marsupials, bats and birds) may use osmotic shock, pseudo-germination, exudation, microbial digestion or enzyme penetration to gain access to the protoplasmic contents. Further study is needed to define the details of these methods and whether they are all in use."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Pollen digestion in flower-feeding Scarabaeidae : protea beetles (Cetoniini) and monkey beetles (Hopliini)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Nicolson, Sue W","Tets, Ian G van"],"dc:creator":["Johnson, Shelley"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-08-13T14:03:34Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-13T14:03:34Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2000"],"dc:description":["Bibliography: leaves 95-104."],"dc:description.abstract":["Beetles pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants and feed on the two most common floral rewards, nectar and pollen. Pollen is nutritionally very valuable, being a rich protein and carbohydrate source. However, the hard and highly resistant outer wall (exine) of the grain is an obstacle that pollen-feeders must overcome in order to benefit from the pollen's nutritious protoplasm. There are a variety of mechanisms that pollen-feeders may use to deal with the exine. Collembolans secrete exinase that breaks down the wall, but other pollen-feeders do not produce this enzyme. Pollen-feeders that are unable to ingest grains may either pierce the grain and suck out the contents (thrips and biting-flies) or cause the grain contents to leach out an imbibe the leachate (butterflies and the eucalupt nectar fly). Pollen-feeders that can ingest the grains (bees, syrphid flies, rodents, marsupials, bats and birds) may use osmotic shock, pseudo-germination, exudation, microbial digestion or enzyme penetration to gain access to the protoplasmic contents. Further study is needed to define the details of these methods and whether they are all in use."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6106"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Biological Sciences"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Pollen digestion in flower-feeding Scarabaeidae : protea beetles (Cetoniini) and monkey beetles (Hopliini)"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MSc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:44Z"}