tailieunhanh - Foraging behaviour of major pollinators in bitter gourd

Field experiments were conducted to record the diversity of floral visitors/pollinators in Bitter gourd Kharif season, 2018, with three replications. The experimental plot was kept free from chemical sprays during the flowering period. Insects belonging to various orders like Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera and Coleoptera were found visiting the bitter gourd flowers. Major pollinators of bitter gourd have been identified by their foraging activity. Foraging behaviour of major pollinators were recorded during different hours of the day viz. 0600 to 1800h based on No. of individuals/5min/m2 , Time spent by one individual (sec) on each flower, No. of flowers visited by one individual /5min and No. of individuals visited per flower/5min. Insects foraging on pollen and nectar from the flower were also recorded. From the above observations it was found that the bees forage on bitter gourd flowers very actively from 0600 to 1600 hours at a varying level. | 2019 8 6 947-954 EXCELLENT PUBLISHERS International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 06 2019 Journal homepage http Original Research Article https Foraging Behaviour of Major Pollinators in Bitter Gourd A. Yogapriya1 B. Usharani2 K. Suresh1 S. Vellaikumar3 and C. Chinniah1 1 Department of Agricultural la Homology 2ICAR-KVK 3 Department of Biotechnology Agricultural College and Research Institute TNAU Madurai - 625104 Tamil Nadu India Corresponding author ABSTRACT Keywords Apiculture Bitter gourd Foraging activities Pollinators Article Info Accepted 10 May 2019 Available Online 10 June 2019 Field experiments were conducted to record the diversity of floral visitors pollinators in Bitter gourd Kharif season 2018 with three replications. The experimental plot was kept free from chemical sprays during the flowering period. Insects belonging to various orders like Hymenoptera Lepidoptera Diptera Hemiptera and Coleoptera were found visiting the bitter gourd flowers. Major pollinators of bitter gourd have been identified by their foraging activity. Foraging behaviour of major pollinators were recorded during different hours of the day viz. 0600 to 1800h based on No. of individuals 5min m2 Time spent by one individual sec on each flower No. of flowers visited by one individual 5min and No. of individuals visited per flower 5min. Insects foraging on pollen and nectar from the flower were also recorded. From the above observations it was found that the bees forage on bitter gourd flowers very actively from 0600 to 1600 hours at a varying level. Introduction Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae widely grown in Asia Africa and the Caribbean for its edible fruit. Its pods fruits are rich sources of phytonutrients like dietary fiber minerals vitamins and anti-oxidants. Bitter melon notably contains .