The timing of volatile organic compound (VOC) emission by flowering plants often coincides with pollinator foraging activity. Volatile emission is often considered to be paced by environmental variables, such as light intensity, and/or by circadian rhythmicity. The question arises as to what extent pollinators themselves provide information about their presence, in keeping with their long co-evolution with flowering plants. Bumblebees are electrically charged and provide electrical stimulation when visiting plants, as measured via the depolarisation of electric potential in the stem of flowers. Here we test the hypothesis that the electric charge of foraging bumblebees increases the floral volatile emissions of bee pollinated plants. We investigate the change in VOC emissions of two bee-pollinated plants (Petunia integrifolia and Antirrhinum majus) exposed to the electric charge typical of foraging bumblebees. P. integrifolia slightly increases its emissions of a behaviorally and physiologically active compound in response to visits by foraging bumblebees, presenting on average 121 pC of electric charge. We show that for P. integrifolia, strong electrical stimulation (600–700 pC) promotes increased volatile emissions, but this is not found when using weaker electrical charges more representative of flying pollinators (100 pC). Floral volatile emissions of A. majus were not affected by either strong (600–700 pC) or weak electric charges (100 pC). This study opens a new area of research whereby the electrical charge of flying insects may provide information to plants on the presence and phenology of their pollinators. As a form of electroreception, this sensory process would bear adaptive value, enabling plants to better ensure that their attractive chemical messages are released when a potential recipient is present.

开花植物释放挥发性有机化合物 (VOC) 的时间通常与传粉媒介的觅食活动相吻合。挥发性排放通常被认为是由环境变量（例如光强度）和/或昼夜节律决定的。问题是传粉媒介本身在多大程度上提供了有关它们存在的信息，以与它们与开花植物的长期共同进化保持一致。大黄蜂带电并在访问植物时提供电刺激，这是通过花茎中的电势去极化来测量的。在这里，我们测试了这样一个假设，即觅食大黄蜂的电荷会增加蜜蜂授粉植物的花香挥发物排放。我们调查了两种蜜蜂授粉植物的 VOC 排放量变化（Petunia integrifolia和Antirrhinum majus）暴露于觅食大黄蜂的典型电荷。P. integrifolia通过觅食大黄蜂，在响应访问时略微增加其行为和生理活性化合物的排放，平均产生 121 pC 的电荷。我们表明，对于P. integrifolia，强电刺激 (600–700 pC) 会促进挥发性排放增加，但当使用更能代表飞行传粉者 (100 pC) 的较弱电荷时，则没有发现这一点。A. majus 的花卉挥发性排放物不受强电荷 (600–700 pC) 或弱电荷 (100 pC) 的影响。这项研究开辟了一个新的研究领域，飞行昆虫的电荷可以为植物提供有关其传粉者的存在和物候的信息。作为电感受的一种形式，这种感觉过程将具有适应性价值，使植物能够更好地确保在潜在接收者存在时释放其有吸引力的化学信息。