ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a general survey of the literature of floral fragrance chemistry in relation to pollinator type and presents a tentative effort to uncover possible associations between floral scent and pollinators. The classification of fragrances is highly challenging, given the combinatorial potential of the wide diversity of floral scent volatiles and the variation in their relative abundance. The three major groups of lepidopteran pollinators in which adult nectar feeding has evolved are the butterflies, settling moths, and hovering moths. Adult butterflies of many species are important pollinators, visiting flowers to feed primarily on floral nectar, and in some cases even pollen. As in floral scents in general, the number of compounds detected in each floral scent varies widely among species, and the nonsulfur volatiles belong to chemical classes commonly reported in fragrances. The floral volatile data are being expanded on rapidly, and with this emerge new syndrome classes as well as changes in the currently presented ones.
