Foraging and pollination activity of Papilio demodocus (Lepidoptera : Papilionidae) on the flowers of Lantana camara (Verbenaceae) at Dang (Ngaoundéré, Cameroon)

Abstract

To assess the impact of Papilio demodocus on the fruit production of Lantana camara, the activity of foraging and pollination of flowers by this butterfly was studied in Dang, in May 2016 and 2017. Each year, 540 floral bunchs with flowers in bud were labeled on 32 plants to constitute four treatments: 120 bunchs left in free pollination, 120 bunchs protected from insects ; 200 bunchs protected, then uncovered, visited exclusively by P. demodocus and rebagged ; 100 bunchs protected, then uncovered and rebagged, without insect or any other organism visits. The foraging behavior of P. demodocus on the flowers, its pollinating activity, the rate of fruiting, the percentage of mature fruit and the percentage of normal (well developed) fruit were evaluated. The results show that out of 18 species of insects recorded on the flowers of L. camara, P. demodocus comes in first position with 22.18% of 284 visits and collects exclusively and strongly the nectar. The rate of fruiting, the percentage of mature fruit and the percentage of normal fruit were significantly higher in treatments with free pollination flowers than in those with flowers protected from insects. Via its pollinating efficiency, P. demodocus increased the fruiting rate by 33.28%, the percentage of mature fruit by 28.10% and the percentage of normal fruit by 25.85%. The cultivation of L. camara is important for keeping P. demodocus Foraging Stéphane Louabé et al.

Pollination efficiency of a single flower visit of Graphium angolanus Goeze (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) on Psorospermum febrifugum Spach (Hypericaceae) at Dang (Ngaoundere, Cameroon)

“…Figure 1 Graphium angolanus collecting nectar in Psorospermum febrifugum flowers at Dang in 2017 During each of the two flowering periods of P. febrifugum (355 and 140 visits recorded in 2016 and 2017 respectively), G. angolanus intensely and exclusively harvested nectar. Similar observations were made by Kudum and Kwapong (2010) on Ananas comosus [16], Yapo et al (2018) on Anacardium occidentale [17], Louabé et al (2020, 2022) onLantana camara[18,19] in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon respectively.…”

“…Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA (F) for the comparison of means of more than two samples, student's t-test for the comparison of means of two samples, Chi-square (χ 2 ) for the comparison of percentages, Pearson correlation coefficient (r) for the study of the association between two variables performed by SPSS 18.5.2.0. Lantana camara [18,19] in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon respectively.…”