Frequent Insect Visitors Are Not Always Pollen Carriers in Hybrid Carrot Pollination.

ABSTRACT: Insect crop visitations do not necessarily translate to carriage or transfer of pollen. To evaluate the potential of the various insects visiting hybrid carrot flowers to facilitate pollen transfer, this study examines insect visitation rates to hybrid carrot seed crops in relation to weather, time of day and season, pollen carrying capacity, inter-row movement, and visitation frequency to male-fertile and male-sterile umbels. The highest pollen loads were carried by nectar scarabs, honey bees, and the hover fly Eristalis tenax (Linnaeus). Honey bees and muscoid flies were observed to forage mostly within the male fertile carrot row while nectar scarabs and E. tenax foraged across rows, carrying equal pollen loads regardless of their distance from the pollen source. All observed insect tax

SUBMITTER: Gaffney A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6023358 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature