Comparative Efficiency of Native Insect Pollinators in Reproductive Performance of Medicago sativa L. in Pakistan

Abstract

Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) is a cross-pollinated crop and requires entomophilous pollination for tripping of flowers and subsequent pod and seed set. To discover the best pollinators for lucerne seed production, a two-year field trial was carried out at the research farm of MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan. Abundance and diversity of insect pollinators along with the foraging behavior were recorded in terms of tripping efficiency, stay time, visitation rate and pollen harvest. The single-visit efficiency of abundant insect pollinators was also evaluated in terms of number of seeds and seed weight per raceme along with germination percentage. Ten most abundant floral visitors (five solitary bee species, three honeybee species and two syrphid fly species) were tested for their pollination efficiency. Honeybees were most abundant in both the years followed by the solitary bees and syrphid flies. Single-visit efficacy in terms of number of pods per raceme, number of seeds per raceme, 1000 seed weight and germination percentage revealed Megachile cephalotes as the most efficient insect pollinator followed by Megachile hera and Amegilla sp. Future studies should investigate the biology and ecology of these bee species with special emphasis on their nesting behavior and seasonality.

The Diversity of pollinator insects in vegetable gardens, Kabawo District, Muna Regency

“…The bee from genus Nomia belongs to the Halictidae family belonging to the group of solitary bees [42]. Solitary bees have a habit of eating to obtain nectar from the flowers they visit [43]. The nectar in chilies contains glucose, fructose and sucrose as agents that attract pollinators to visit chili flowers [44].…”

Observing bees and wasps: Why surveys and monitoring programs are critical and how they can improve our understanding of these beneficial hymenopterans

“…Some recognized examples include several bumble bee species (Bombus spp.) (Velthuis & van Doorn 2006;Vergara 2008;Campbell et al 2017a;Abbate et al 2023), several mason bees (Osmia Panzer, 1806) (Batra 1978;Maeta & Kitamura 1981;Yoshida & Maeta 1988;Maeta et al 1990;Torchio 1990;Torchio 1991;Sekita et al 1996;Da-Yong & Long-Shi 2007;Lee et al 2008;Matsumoto & Maejima 2010;Boyle et al 2020), and two bees used for pollination of alfalfa for seed, the alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata (Fabricus, 1787)) (Bohart 1972;Pitts-Singer & Cane 2011) and the alkalki bee (Nomia melanderi Cockerell, 1906) (Rauf et al 2021). The latter is also the only intensively managed ground-nesting solitary bee in the world (Cane 1997(Cane , 2008.…”

Distribution and host plant associations of Megachile (Pseudomegachile) lanata (Fabricius, 1775) (Megachilidae) in Pothohar, Pakistan

“…In agricultural and all other types of landscapes, such as forests, urban areas and natural habitats, agricultural activities are not the primary focus. The genus Megachile contains seven species, including Megachile (Eutricharaea) arachosiana, M. lanata, M. cephalotes, Megachile hera, M. bicolor, M. disjuncta and M. conjuncta on different regions of Pakistan associated with diverse floral host plants (Gonzalez et al, 2010;Abdur et al, 2022;Sajjad et al, 2019;Rauf et al, 2021;Sumera et al, 2020). To investigate the possibility of using additional native species, research was done to analyse the occurrence of Megachile lanata (Fabricius) in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Chakwal.…”