Nectar robbing – harvesting nectar illegitimately – can have a variety of outcomes for plant sexual reproduction and for the pollinator community. Nectar robbers can damage flowers while robbing nectar, which could affect the behavior of subsequent flower visitors and, consequently, plant reproduction. However, only nectar manipulation by nectar robbers has so far received attention. We found a short‐tongued bee, Hoplonomia sp. (Halictidae), mutilating the conspicuous lower petal of the zygomorphic flowers of Leucas aspera (Lamiaceae) while robbing nectar. We hypothesized that the mutilation of the conspicuous lower petal deters legitimate pollinators on L. aspera flowers, which, in turn, might affect plant reproduction. We first assessed the proportion of naturally‐robbed flowers in plant populations for three years to confirm that it was not a purely local phenomenon due to a few individual bees. We then studied diversity, community and visitation characteristics of pollinators, nectar dynamics and fruit set in unrobbed and robbed open flowers in naturally‐robbed populations. The proportion of robbed flowers varied significantly across sites and years. Robbing did not affect nectar dynamics in flowers, but it did alter flower morphology, so much so that it reduced pollinator visitation and altered the pollinator community on robbed flowers. However, the maternal function of plant reproduction was not affected by nectar robbing. This study for the first time shows that a nectar robber can have an ecologically significant impact on floral morphology.

中文翻译：

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花蜜强盗通过破坏花朵来阻止合法授粉者

抢花蜜（非法采摘花蜜）会对植物有性繁殖和授粉媒介产生多种结果。花蜜抢劫者在抢花蜜时会破坏花朵，这可能会影响随后的花朵访客的行为，进而影响植物繁殖。但是，到目前为止，只有花蜜劫匪操纵花蜜。我们发现了一只短舌的蜜蜂Hoplonomia sp.。（Halictidae），抢劫花蜜时，切碎Leucas aspera（Lamiaceae）的合子形花的显眼下部花瓣。我们假设明显的下部花瓣的残割会阻止L. aspera上的合法授粉者花，继而可能影响植物繁殖。我们首先评估了三年来自然采摘的花朵在植物种群中的比例，以确认这不是由于个别蜜蜂引起的纯粹的局部现象。然后，我们研究了自然剥夺种群中未剥夺和剥夺开花的授粉媒介的多样性，群落和传粉特性，花蜜动力学和坐果。不同地点和年份的抢劫花朵比例差异很大。抢劫并没有影响花中的花蜜动力学，但它确实改变了花的形态，以至于它减少了授粉者的探访次数，并改变了抢劫花上的授粉媒介群落。但是，植物繁殖的母体功能不受花蜜抢劫的影响。