Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka

Plant-pollinator interactions are often considered as tightly coevolved, mutualistic relationships. The present study aimed at determining the flower visiting bees of the vegetable crop, Solanum violaceum, and the efficiency of buzz pollination by bees on fruit and seed production in Sri Lanka. Seve...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: R. W. M. U. M. Wanigasekara, W. A. I. P. Karunaratne
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2012-01-01
Series:Psyche: A Journal of Entomology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/231638
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832558634163240960
author R. W. M. U. M. Wanigasekara
W. A. I. P. Karunaratne
author_facet R. W. M. U. M. Wanigasekara
W. A. I. P. Karunaratne
author_sort R. W. M. U. M. Wanigasekara
collection DOAJ
description Plant-pollinator interactions are often considered as tightly coevolved, mutualistic relationships. The present study aimed at determining the flower visiting bees of the vegetable crop, Solanum violaceum, and the efficiency of buzz pollination by bees on fruit and seed production in Sri Lanka. Seven bee species: Hoplonomia westwoodi, Amegilla comberi, Patellapis kaluterae, Xylocopa tenuiscapa, Apis dorsata, Trigona iridipennis, and Ceratina hieroglyphica visited the flowers of S. violaceum, and the first four species were buzzing bees. Buzzing bees were the first to visit Solanum flowers and were followed by nonbuzzing bees. Handling time of H. westwoodi and P. kaluterae varied with the availability of pollen in anthers that deplete with the age of flower and stayed longer at new flowers than at old flowers. Handling time of the larger buzzing bee, H. westwoodi, was higher than that of the smaller P. kaluterae. The fruit set, seed set, and seed germinability in flowers visited by buzzing bees were significantly higher than those of the flowers bagged to exclude pollinators.
format Article
id doaj-art-07bdc24744844cab85568d14e4b09f5c
institution Kabale University
issn 0033-2615
1687-7438
language English
publishDate 2012-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Psyche: A Journal of Entomology
spelling doaj-art-07bdc24744844cab85568d14e4b09f5c2025-02-03T01:31:48ZengWileyPsyche: A Journal of Entomology0033-26151687-74382012-01-01201210.1155/2012/231638231638Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri LankaR. W. M. U. M. Wanigasekara0W. A. I. P. Karunaratne1Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri LankaDepartment of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri LankaPlant-pollinator interactions are often considered as tightly coevolved, mutualistic relationships. The present study aimed at determining the flower visiting bees of the vegetable crop, Solanum violaceum, and the efficiency of buzz pollination by bees on fruit and seed production in Sri Lanka. Seven bee species: Hoplonomia westwoodi, Amegilla comberi, Patellapis kaluterae, Xylocopa tenuiscapa, Apis dorsata, Trigona iridipennis, and Ceratina hieroglyphica visited the flowers of S. violaceum, and the first four species were buzzing bees. Buzzing bees were the first to visit Solanum flowers and were followed by nonbuzzing bees. Handling time of H. westwoodi and P. kaluterae varied with the availability of pollen in anthers that deplete with the age of flower and stayed longer at new flowers than at old flowers. Handling time of the larger buzzing bee, H. westwoodi, was higher than that of the smaller P. kaluterae. The fruit set, seed set, and seed germinability in flowers visited by buzzing bees were significantly higher than those of the flowers bagged to exclude pollinators.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/231638
spellingShingle R. W. M. U. M. Wanigasekara
W. A. I. P. Karunaratne
Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka
Psyche: A Journal of Entomology
title Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka
title_full Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka
title_short Efficiency of Buzzing Bees in Fruit Set and Seed Set of Solanum violaceum in Sri Lanka
title_sort efficiency of buzzing bees in fruit set and seed set of solanum violaceum in sri lanka
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/231638
work_keys_str_mv AT rwmumwanigasekara efficiencyofbuzzingbeesinfruitsetandseedsetofsolanumviolaceuminsrilanka
AT waipkarunaratne efficiencyofbuzzingbeesinfruitsetandseedsetofsolanumviolaceuminsrilanka