Large pollen loads of a South African asclepiad do not interfere with the foraging behaviour or efficiency of pollinating honey bees

Coombs, Gareth; Dold, Anthony P; Brassine, Eleanor I; Peter, Craig I

Title: Large pollen loads of a South African asclepiad do not interfere with the foraging behaviour or efficiency of pollinating honey bees
Creator: Coombs, Gareth, Dold, Anthony P, Brassine, Eleanor I, Peter, Craig I
Date: 2012
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6509
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005936
Description: The pollen of asclepiads (Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae) and most orchids (Orchidaceae) are packaged as large aggregations known as pollinaria that are removed as entire units by pollinators. In some instances, individual pollinators may accumulate large loads of these pollinaria. We found that the primary pollinator of Cynanchum ellipticum (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae), the honey bee Apis mellifera, accumulate very large agglomerations of pollinaria on their mouthparts when foraging on this species. We tested whether large pollinarium loads negatively affected the foraging behaviour and foraging efficiency of honey bees by slowing foraging speeds or causing honey bees to visit fewer flowers, and found no evidence to suggest that large pollinarium loads altered foraging behaviour. C. ellipticum displayed consistently high levels of pollination success and pollen transfer efficiency (PTE). This may be a consequence of efficiently loading large numbers of pollinaria onto pollinators even when primary points of attachment on pollinators are already occupied and doing so in a manner that does not impact the foraging behaviour of pollinating insects.
Format: 10 pages, pdf
Language: English
Relation: Coombs, G. and Dold, A.P. and Brassine, E.I. and Peter, C.I. (2012) Large pollen loads of a South African asclepiad do not interfere with the foraging behaviour or efficiency of pollinating honey bees. Naturwissenschaften, 9 (7). pp. 545-552. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0932-2

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Coombs, Gareth (Dr)

Peter, Craig (Assoc Prof)

Dold, Anthony Patrick (Mr)

RU Department of Botany

SDG 15. Life On Land

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