Stop and smell the corpse flowers: Staphylinoid beetles and aroid pollination

Aroid plants (family Araceae) bear notoriously pungent inflorescences that attract fly and beetle visitors. Some aroids are pollinated almost exclusively by staphylinoid beetles; one such species is the Western skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus), which is pollinated by the omaliine genus Pelecomalium. Do other species of skunk cabbage have staphylinoid associates? What drives a fungus-feeding beetle lineage to become a floral visitor or pollinator? Recent fieldwork with Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) and golden club (Orontium aquaticum) sheds new light on beetle associations with these unique and aromatic plants.