Abstract

CARABALI-BANGUERO, Diana; MONTOYA-LERMA, James  and  CARABALI-MUNOZ, Arturo. Pollen loads on entomofauna visiting flowers of Persea americana (Lauraceae) cv. Hass. Caldasia [online]. 2020, vol.42, n.1, pp.105-114. ISSN 0366-5232.  https://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v42n1.77136.

The analysis of the pollen loads of the floral visiting insects of the Hass avocado is a method that allows to determine the importance of the insect species in management plans of the pollination of the crop and to reveal the use of habitat and importance of the flora in sustaining the visitor species. This study was aimed to identify, through a pollen analysis in insects, the most frequent flower visitors of the plant. The study was conducted in two orchards of Cauca, for two flowering periods. Manually floral insect visitors were collected, and the pollen samples were obtained from their bodies. Pollen load of the five most common species was removed during sampling. The palynological analysis showed that floral visitors do not limit their visit to a specific resource such as Hass avocado pollen, but use different species in the agroecosystem and surroundings. The insects carry pollen from 18 botanical families; Bidens pilosa, Tridax procumbens, Emilia fosbergii, Brachiaria sp., and Mikania sp. were the most important pollinating flora. The study reveals the importance of preserving the diversity of species that with their pollen load guarantee the optimal pollination of the flowers.

Keywords : Apis mellifera; pollen; weed plants; wild pollinators.

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