Ceratozamia Pollinator Studies

A team of scientists at Universidad Veracruzana – Jorge Gómez Díaz, César Carvajal Hernández and Merbin Tornero Conde – have been awarded funding for research on pollination in Ceratozamia (C. decumbens, C. delucana, and C. morettii). One of the team’s overarching goals is to assist in conservation of Ceratozamia of central Veracruz by amassing fundamental information about pollination dynamics and reproductive phenology. All three cycad species in the study are under threat and hence considered regional conservation priorities. Fieldwork commenced in 2021 and will continue through 2022. William Tang, Entomologist at the United States Department of Agriculture (Florida, U.S.A.), is a project collaborator and is currently providing expert identification of beetles isolated from male cones during pollen shed.