Role of insect visits on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) yield

The foraging activities of insect visitors on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) were studied. The insect visitors in decreasing order of abundance were: Formica sp.>Apis mellifera>Apis cerana>syrphids≥Apis dorstata. The activity of insects was peaked at 08.00-09.00 am. The foraging behaviour of A. mellifera was also studied. The bees spent significantly more time per flower during morning hours (sec/flower) and foraged significantly fewer flowers (7.9 flowers/min) compared to evening hours. There were significantly more nectar foragers (6.03/m²/10 min) than pollen foragers (5.16/m²/10 min). Most pollen foragers were observed during morning hours (6.59/m²/10 min) whereas nectar foragers were most active during noon hours (6.63/m²/10 min). Highest fruit set was observed in hand pollination (70.68%). Percentage of misshapen fruits was maximum in without honey bee pollination (24.35%). Without honey bee pollination resulted in significantly lowest percentage of healthy fruits (75.25%). Hand pollination ranked highest among the three forms of pollination in respective of fruits (985.13 g), number of seeds per fruit (425.22), fruit diameter (27.1 cm), fruit length (26.7 cm) and weight of 1000-seeds (28.64 g). J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2018, 4(2): 81-88

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Pollination and Plant Reproductive Success of Two Ploidy Levels in Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2021.720069 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Shuxuan Jing ◽

Per Kryger ◽

Bo Markussen ◽

Birte Boelt

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Red Clover ◽

Flower Head ◽

Seed Number ◽

Bee Pollination ◽

Ploidy Levels ◽

Plant Reproductive Success ◽

Visitation Rates ◽

Hand Pollination

Plant reproduction in red clover requires cross-fertilization via insect pollination. However, the influences of visitation rate and timing on maximizing ovule utilization are yet to be determined. We aimed to study the influences of visitation rate, flowering stage, and self-incompatibility on reproductive success. We applied hand and honey bee pollination in the study of eight red clover cultivars with two ploidy levels released between 1964 and 2001. In hand pollination, increasing the visitation rates (from 10 to 80 pollinated florets per flower head) increased the seed number per flower head but reduced the seed number per pollinated floret. Different flowering stages (early, middle, and full flowering) did not influence the seed number per pollinated floret significantly. There was a marked difference in reproductive success depending on the ploidy level, with 0.52 seeds per pollinated floret in diploid and 0.16 in tetraploid cultivars. During the cultivar release history, seed number per pollinated floret seemed to decrease in diploid cultivars, whereas it increased in tetraploids. In honey bee pollination, diploid cultivars had more two-seeded florets than tetraploids. Different visitation rates and the stochastic nature of pollen transfer resulted in difficulties when the plant reproductive success between hand and bee pollination was compared. A maximum of 0.27 seeds per pollinated floret were produced in hand pollination compared to the 0.34 in honey bee pollination. In spite of this, hand pollination provided a valuable method for studying the pollination biology and reproduction of red clover. Future studies may employ hand pollination to unravel further aspects of the low reproductive success with the future perspective of improving seed number per pollinated floret in tetraploid red clover.

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Mexican creeper, Antigonon leptopus Hook. and Arn : An effective bee forage plant to conserve honey bee

Journal of Horticultural Sciences ◽

10.24154/jhs.2020.v15i02.015 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 225-228

Author(s):

P V Rami Reddy

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Species Diversity ◽

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Native Species ◽

Foraging Behaviour ◽

Apis Cerana ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Urban Habitats ◽

Forage Plant

Decline in honey bee populations has become a matter of concern and their conservation is very essential to sustain essential ecosystem services. They provide making available continuous supply of floral resources is of immense value in conserving honey bees. The effectiveness of an ornamental creeper, Antigonon leptopus Hook. & Arn as a sustainable bee forage plant was evaluated. It attracts four major native species of honey bees viz., Apis cerana, A. florea, A. dorsata and Tetragonula iridipennis. The wild little bee, A. florea was the most dominant forager followed by the Indian bee, A. cerana. The plant is amenable for easy multiplication through seeds as well as cuttings and meets both aesthetic and ecological needs. Using Antigonon, different studies related to honey bees like assessing species diversity, foraging behaviour, temperature driven shifts etc. can be carried out. Popularising perennial bee flora like Antigonon would help in conserving honey bees in both natural and urban habitats. Since Antigonon attracts all species of honey bees throughout the year, it could be utilized as a potential bioindicator of honey bee populations in a given environment.

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Role of Silicon Dioxide Nano Fertilizer in Mitigating Salt Stress on Growth, Yield and Chemical Composition of Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

International Journal of Agricultural Research ◽

10.3923/ijar.2017.130.135 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 130-135 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Abdelazim Yassen ◽

Emam Abdallah ◽

Maybelle Gaballah ◽

Sahar Zaghloul

Keyword(s):

Salt Stress ◽

Chemical Composition ◽

Silicon Dioxide ◽

Cucumis Sativus ◽

Growth Yield ◽

Cucumis Sativus L

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The role of the cotyledons in the photocontrol of hypocotyl extension in Cucumis sativus L.

Planta ◽

10.1007/bf00388678 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 117 (1) ◽

pp. 57-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 67

Author(s):

M. Black ◽

Janet E. Shuttleworth

Keyword(s):

Cucumis Sativus ◽

Cucumis Sativus L

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Autonomous self-pollination and insect visitation in a saprophytic orchid, Epipogium roseum (D.Don) Lindl.

Australian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1071/bt11265 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 154 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

X. Zhou ◽

H. Lin ◽

X.-L. Fan ◽

J.-Y. Gao

Keyword(s):

Honey Bee ◽

Honey Bees ◽

Fruit Set ◽

Apis Cerana ◽

Floral Biology ◽

Resource Limitations ◽

Self Pollination ◽

Insect Visitation ◽

Asian Honey Bee ◽

Insect Visitors

Reproductive biology of saprophytic plants has been poorly studied. Epipogium roseum (D.Don) Lindl. is a small saprophytic orchid that is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, Australia and Africa. The floral biology and insect visitation of E. roseum were studied in Xishuangbanna, south Yunnan Province, China. E. roseum possesses an obligate self-pollination system, in which the degenerative rostellum has lost its function as a physical barrier separating the stigma and stamens (pollinia), allowing contact between the stigmatic secretions and the pollinia during bud development. Flowers of E. roseum usually open and successfully attract insect visitors. The Asian honey bee (Apis cerana cerana) was the only visitor observed, and regularly visited flowers of E. roseum for nectar. However, these bees did not carry pollinia away after visiting the flowers due to the absence of a viscid disk in E. roseum; the results of experiments also indicated that the Asian honey bee does not contribute to fruit set in E. roseum. The visiting frequency of Asian honey bees to flowers of E. roseum varied both spatially and temporally. E. roseum does not undergo outcrossing mediated by insects and is adapted to obligate self-pollination. We suggest that this may have evolved because of the uncertainty of pollinator services associated with its saprophytic lifestyle. Our current studies do not support the hypothesis that obligate autogamy is favoured by myco-heterotrophic plants due to resource limitations.

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