scholarly journals Foraging behavior of major insect pollinators on pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata (Duch.ex Lam)

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1208-1213
Author(s):  
Lalita Lalita ◽  
Yogesh Kumar

Foraging activity period of different honey bee species on C. moschata (C-1076) flowers at different day hours during August-September (2013) revealed that A. dorsata, A. mellifera, A. cerana and A. florea initiated their activity early in the morning at 0530, 0615, 0625 and 0630 h, respectively and stopped their activity at 1030, 1020, 1025 and 1030 h of the day, respectively while on C. moschata (C-1106, A. dorsata, A. mellifera, A. cerana and A. florea initiated their activity early in the morning at 0535, 0615, 0620 and 0625 h, respectively and ceased their activity at 1045, 1025, 1015 and 1040 h of the day, respectively. The mean foraging speed (time spent per flower) in seconds on flowers of pumpkin (C-1106) was maximum of A. florea (181.72), followed by A. mellifera (7.15), A. cerana (6.05) and A. dorsata spent least time (5.83) and in pumpkin (C-1076), foraging speed was maximum in case of A. florea (178.71), followed by A. mellifera (7.63), A. cerana (6.24) and A. dorsata spent least time (6.06). The mean foraging rate (flowers visited per minute) on flowers of pumpkin (C-1106) was maximum in case of A. dorsata (5.13), followed by A. cerana (4.30), A. mellifera (4.16) and A. florea visited least flower (0.32) and in pumpkin (C-1076), foraging rate was maximum in case of A. dorsata (4.96), followed by A. cerana (4.19), A. mellifera (4.02) and A. florea visited least flower (0.33). Present study advises the farmers that they should not apply the pesticide when the activityof honey bee is on the peak period because pesticides application at the time of bee activity in the field crop causes mortality of bees.

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1603-1607
Author(s):  
Lalita Lalita ◽  
Yogesh Kumar

Foraging activity period of different honey bee species on C. moschata (C-1076) flowers at different day hours during August-September (2013) revealed that A. dorsata, A. mellifera, A. cerana and A. florea initiated their activity early in the morning at 0530, 0615, 0625 and 0630 h, respectively and stopped their activity at 1030, 1020, 1025 and 1030 h of the day, respectively while on C. moschata (C-1106, A. dorsata, A. mellifera, A. cerana and A. florea initiated their activity early in the morning at 0535, 0615, 0620 and 0625 h, respectively and ceased their activity at 1045, 1025, 1015 and 1040 h of the day, respectively. The mean foraging speed (time spent per flower) in seconds on flowers of pumpkin (C-1106) was maximum of A. florea (181.72), followed by A. mellifera (7.15), A. cerana (6.05) and A. dorsata spent least time (5.83) and in pumpkin (C-1076), foraging speed was maximum in case of A. florea (178.71), followed by A. mellifera (7.63), A. cerana (6.24) and A. dorsata spent least time (6.06). The mean foraging rate (flowers visited per minute) on flowers of pumpkin (C-1106) was maximum in case of A. dorsata (5.13), followed by A. cerana (4.30), A. mellifera (4.16) and A. florea visited least flower (0.32) and in pumpkin (C-1076), foraging rate was maximum in case of A. dorsata (4.96), followed by A. cerana (4.19), A. mellifera (4.02) and A. florea visited least flower (0.33). Present study advises the farmers that they should not apply the pesticide when the activity of honey bee is on the peak period because pesticides application at the time of bee activity in the field crop causes mortality of bees.


2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (12) ◽  
pp. 1910-1916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Lewis ◽  
Silvano Benvenuti ◽  
Francis Daunt ◽  
Sarah Wanless ◽  
Luigi Dall'Antonia ◽  
...  

Many species of seabirds are known to undertake foraging trips that vary in duration, lasting from a few hours up to several days. However, the important question of how individuals allocate their time during foraging trips of different durations has received relatively little attention until recently. Using activity loggers, we examined the foraging behavior of chick-rearing northern gannets, Morus bassanus (L., 1758), during trips of different durations, and tested predictions concerning how foraging activity varies across trips. There was no evidence of a relationship between dive frequency during the first 3 h of a trip and trip duration, suggesting that the decision to continue on a longer trip was not affected by an adult's initial rate of encounter with prey. Flight constituted approximately 50% of total trip time, and the dive rate of birds per daylight hour was apparently unaffected by trip duration. Birds dived at similar rates on the outward and return sections of their foraging trips, which suggests that they may have been "topping up" on food on their return. Overall our results suggest that, unlike other pelagic seabirds, northern gannets at the Bass Rock do not adjust their individual foraging strategies among trips of different durations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-290
Author(s):  
Ricardo Alberto Toledo-Hernández ◽  
Mónica Pulido-Enríquez ◽  
Francisco Landeros-Pedro ◽  
Douglas Rodríguez ◽  
Daniel Sánchez

Abstract Crop protection substances are continuously developed to prevent the decimation of non-target insect populations through insecticide use. The bait formulation Acttra SWD was created to attract the adult spotted-wing drosophila, a generalist pest of berries, and when mixed with insecticide would cause a reduction in the volume of insecticide applied, thus avoiding a complete coverage of crops and resulting in economic and ecological benefits to society. However, Acttra SWD has some compounds, including sugars and fruit odors, that might attract non-target fauna, especially insect pollinators. Therefore this study aimed (1) to investigate if Acttra SWD mixed with the recommended pesticide, i.e. spinosad (Entrust), is attractive to the honey bee, which is extensively used for berry pollination and (2) to evaluate the insecticidal activity of Acttra/Entrust in oral and contact tests on the same species. In all replicates, most foragers rejected feeders that offered Acttra/Entrust, and some switched to Acttra/Entrust-free feeders. Accordingly, mortality caused by this mixture in oral tests was low and did not differ from control, since the majority of bees did not consume the Acttra/Entrust treatment. However, mortality caused by this mixture was higher than in control groups in topical tests. Our results indicate that honey bees will not be attracted to and poisoned by crops sprayed with Acttra/Entrust, but contact with the bait would result in lethal or sub-lethal effects.


Apidologie ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 871-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorgiane B. Parish ◽  
Eileen S. Scott ◽  
Raymond Correll ◽  
Katja Hogendoorn

AbstractHoney bees, Apis mellifera, have been implicated as vectors of plant pathogens. However, the survival of spores of plant pathogenic fungi through the digestive tract of workers has not been investigated. As workers defecate outside the hive, transport of hives could give rise to biosecurity concerns if fungal spores remain viable following passage through the digestive tract. To determine the likelihood that honey bees serve as vectors, this study investigated the viability of spores of Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum acutatum after passing through the digestive tract of summer and autumn worker bees. For both fungi, the mean viability of spores in faeces suspensions was less than one percent of the initial dose fed to the bees. Although survival was low, the large number of workers per hive implies a high probability of transmission of viable spores through honey bee faeces. Hence, in the case of economically important fungal diseases, transported hives could be a source of inoculum and quarantine restrictions should be considered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 112 (6) ◽  
pp. 2923-2930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanyuan Lei ◽  
Yangyang Zhou ◽  
Lihua Lü ◽  
Yurong He

Abstract The foraging gene (for) is associated with foraging and other associated behaviors in social insect species. Photoperiod is known to entrain the rhythmic biological functions of ants; however, how photoperiod might influence the intensity and duration of foraging, and the expression of for, remains unexplored. This study determined the correlation between rhythm in foraging behavior and expression of the foraging gene (Sifor) mRNA in red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Foragers were exposed to three photoperiod conditions (12:12 [L:D], 24:0 [L:D], and 0:24 [L:D]) in the laboratory and foraging activities were recorded using a video-computer recording system. Sifor expression in the foragers was tested using real-time reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. Results revealed that foraging activity rhythm and Sifor expression profile were unimodal under all three photoperiod conditions. Levels of foraging activity were associated with photoperiodic modification, a stable phase difference between the onset of activity and the onset of gene expression was discovered. Light-dark transients stimulated foraging activity in 12:12 (L:D). There were significant daily oscillations (amplitude of 0.21 ± 0.08 for 12:12 [L:D], 0.12 ± 0.02 for 24:0 [L:D], and 0.09 ± 0.01 for 0:24 [L:D]) in the expression of Sifor. A positive relationship (r = 0.5903, P < 0.01) was found between the expression level of Sifor and foraging activity, which indicated that Sifor is linked to some extent to foraging behavior. Our results demonstrated that foragers could adjust the rhythms in foraging behavior according to light–dark cycle and suggested that Sifor may play an important role in the response of S. invicta to photoperiod.


Apidologie ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rong Ma ◽  
Ulrich G. Mueller ◽  
Juliana Rangel

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-366
Author(s):  
Md Ektarul Islam ◽  
Md Jamil Hossain Biswas ◽  
Kazi Shahanara Ahmed ◽  
Faruki Shabia Maraj

Honeybee, Apismellifera L. was reared and maintained in bee box and placed in around Bangladesh Agricultural University campus in Mymensingh to study its life cycle, behaviour, pollen gathering activity, honey production and its effect on yield of mustard. There was no relationship between sunrises, sunset, first out from the box and last entrance into the box. But positive relationship was found with day temperature to first out and last entrance. The highest number of bees collected pollen in the 3rd week of March. Maximum pollen gathering activities were found at 12.00 to 1.00 p.m. The highest amount of honey production was 4.00 kg per box in mustard and there was positive correlation between percent pollen gathering activity and honey production. The highest number of queen cell was found in the month of March. The results showed that honey bee pollination had significant effect on increase in all the plant parameters and yield.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2015, 1(2): 359-366


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