Busy Bees: Variation in Insect Flower-Visiting Rates across Multiple Plant Species
Joint Authors
Couvillon, Margaret J.
Walter, Chandra M.
Blows, Eluned M.
Czaczkes, Tomer J.
Alton, Karin L.
Ratnieks, Francis L. W.
Source
Issue
Vol. 2015, Issue 2015 (31 Dec. 2015), pp.1-7, 7 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2015-06-09
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
7
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
We quantified insect visitation rates by counting how many flowers/inflorescences were probed per unit time for five plant species (four native and one garden: California lilac, bramble, ragwort, wild marjoram, and ivy) growing in Sussex, United Kingdom, by following individual insects (n=2987) from nine functional groups (honey bees (Apis mellifera), bumble bees (Bombus spp.), hoverflies, flies, butterflies, beetles, wasps, non-Apidae bees, and moths).
Additionally, we made a census of the insect diversity on the studied plant species.
Overall we found that insect groups differed greatly in their rate of flower visits (P<2.2e-16), with bumble bees and honey bees visiting significantly more flowers per time (11.5 and 9.2 flowers/minute, resp.) than the other insect groups.
Additionally, we report on a within-group difference in the non-Apidae bees, where the genus Osmia, which is often suggested as an alternative to honey bees as a managed pollinator, was very speedy (13.4 flowers/minute) compared to the other non-Apidae bees (4.3 flowers/minute).
Our census showed that the plants attracted a range of insects, with the honey bee as the most abundant visitor (34%).
Therefore, rate differences cannot be explained by particular specializations.
Lastly, we discuss potential implications of our conclusions for pollination.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Couvillon, Margaret J.& Walter, Chandra M.& Blows, Eluned M.& Czaczkes, Tomer J.& Alton, Karin L.& Ratnieks, Francis L. W.. 2015. Busy Bees: Variation in Insect Flower-Visiting Rates across Multiple Plant Species. Psyche،Vol. 2015, no. 2015, pp.1-7.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1075976
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Couvillon, Margaret J.…[et al.]. Busy Bees: Variation in Insect Flower-Visiting Rates across Multiple Plant Species. Psyche No. 2015 (2015), pp.1-7.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1075976
American Medical Association (AMA)
Couvillon, Margaret J.& Walter, Chandra M.& Blows, Eluned M.& Czaczkes, Tomer J.& Alton, Karin L.& Ratnieks, Francis L. W.. Busy Bees: Variation in Insect Flower-Visiting Rates across Multiple Plant Species. Psyche. 2015. Vol. 2015, no. 2015, pp.1-7.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-1075976
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-1075976