Diversity, abundance and pollination efficiency of insect pollinators of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller) and effect of abiotic factors on insect pollinator activity

Journal Title: Journal of Applied and Natural Science - Year 2015, Vol 7, Issue 2

Abstract

Biodiversity of insect pollinators on fennel cv. HF-143 (Foeniculum vulgare Miller), was studied in Hisar, Haryana, India. Twenty-five insect species belonging to fifteen families of five orders were recorded from fennel flowers, in which, seven belong to order Lepidoptera, nine to Hymenoptera, five to Diptera, three to Coleoptera and one to Odonata. Among the insect pollinators, Apis florea F., A. cerana indica F., A. mellifera L. and A. dorsata F. were the most frequent visitors. Among different bee species, the maximum mean population observed in case of A. florea (9.23 bees/m2/5 min) followed by A. mellifera (3.62 bees/m2/5 min) and A. dorsata (3.21 bees/m2/5 min), whereas, the least abundance was observed in case of A. cerana indica, i.e., 1.82 bees/m2/5 min. The pollination index of A. dorsata was highest (19715210) followed by A. florea (13888381), A. mellifera (13845052) and A. cerana (5586381). Hence, it was observed that A. dorsata was the most efficient pollinator followed by A. florea, A. mellifera and A. cerana on fennel cv. HF-143 flowers under agro ecological conditions of Hisar (Haryana). Hence, insect pollinators were essential to get good returns in this seed crop. The activity of different bee species on fennel varied with different abiotic factors and had significantly positive correlation with bright sun shine hours (BSS) and temperature (TEMP) in different hours of the day during foraging but had negative correlation with relative humidity (RH). It was observed that the effect of wind velocity on foraging of different bee species was not significant. Thus, the impact of abiotic environmental factors may decide the foraging activity of different insect pollinators.

Authors and Affiliations

Vikas Bharti, Dilbagh Singh Ahlawat, Surendra Kumar Sharma, Naveen Vikram Singh, Jitendra JItendra, Nachhatar Singh

Keywords

Related Articles

Residual effect of nitrogen levels and weed control methods on growth, yield and economics of wheat grown after rice

A field experiment was laid out in split plot design on residual effect of treatments comprising three nitrogen levels viz. N75 (N1), N100 (N2) and N125 (N3) in main-plot treatments and seven weed control treatments viz....

Effect of different growth regulators on in vitro micro-propagation of Kufri Frysona

In the present investigation, experiment was conducted for in vitro micro-propagation with different concentration of growth regulators in different explants Sprouts and Shoot tips of potato cultivar Kufri Frysona. The m...

Effect of integrated nitrogen management on NPK uptake in basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.)

A field experiment entitled NPK uptake influenced by integrated nitrogen management in basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during kharif 2010. The experiment was condu...

Induced chlorophyll mutations in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum)

An investigation entitled “Induced chlorophyll mutations in bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum)” was conducted during kharif (summer-rainy season) 2012 and 2013 at Experimental farm of the Department of Vegetab...

Enrichment on quality of aonla (Emblica officinalis G.) fruit bars by blending

The main objective of the study was to standardize enrichment of aonla pulp to develop fruit bars. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with 10 treatments. Aonla pulp was blended with 25 to 7...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP283640
  • DOI 10.31018/jans.v7i2.684
  • Views 119
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Vikas Bharti, Dilbagh Singh Ahlawat, Surendra Kumar Sharma, Naveen Vikram Singh, Jitendra JItendra, Nachhatar Singh (2015). Diversity, abundance and pollination efficiency of insect pollinators of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller) and effect of abiotic factors on insect pollinator activity. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 7(2), 786-793. https://europub.co.uk./articles/-A-283640