For antagonists and mutualists: the paradox of insect toxic secondary metabolites in nectar and pollen

The plant kingdom produces an extraordinary diversity of secondary metabolites and the majority of the literature supports a defensive ecological role for them, particularly against invertebrate herbivores (antagonists). Plants also produce secondary compounds in floral nectar and pollen and these are often similar to those produced for defense against invertebrates elsewhere in the plant. This is largely because the chemical armoury within a...