Indian Journal of Entomology

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The collected amount of nectar and pollen by the insect pollinators mainly depends upon the time spent on individual flowers referred to as the foraging speed. An experiment conducted at Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana evaluated the foraging speed of different insect pollinators on flowers of castor Ricinus communis cv. GCH-7 and DCH-177. Apis cerana F. was observed with maximum foraging speed (6.26 sec/ flower) followed by Apis mellifera L. (5.12 sec/ flower), Apis dorsata F. (4.20 sec/ flower), Apis florea F. (3.74 sec/ flower). The least foraging speed was observed with Xylocopa iridipennis Lepeletier (2.67 sec/ flower). Data taken at different time interval in a day indicated that the peak foraging speed of pollinators is between 10.00- 12.00 hr, while the least one was at 16.00-18.00 hr.

Keywords

Castor, Ricinus communis, pollinators, foraging speed, honey bees, Apis spp., Xylocopa iridipennis, peak activity, foraging behaviour.
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