Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T06:31:26.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Activity and foraging behaviour of the hoverfly Eristalinus aeneus (Scopoli, 1763) in protected cultivation of mango (Mangifera indica L.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2021

M. Sánchez Open the ORCID record for M. Sánchez [Opens in a new window] ,
Y. Velásquez Open the ORCID record for Y. Velásquez [Opens in a new window] ,
M. González Open the ORCID record for M. González [Opens in a new window]  and
J. Cuevas Open the ORCID record for J. Cuevas [Opens in a new window]
M. Sánchez*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, University of Almería, ceiA3, La Cañada de San Urbano s/n, 04120, Almería, Spain Polyfly S.L., Avenida de la Innovación 15, 04131, Almería, Spain
Y. Velásquez
Affiliation:
Polyfly S.L., Avenida de la Innovación 15, 04131, Almería, Spain
M. González
Affiliation:
Experimental Station of Foundation Cajamar, Paraje Las Palmerillas 25, 04710, El Ejido, Almería, Spain
J. Cuevas
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, University of Almería, ceiA3, La Cañada de San Urbano s/n, 04120, Almería, Spain
*
Author for correspondence: M. Sánchez, Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The hoverfly Eristalinus aeneus is an important pollinator of crops and wild plants. However, there is a lack of detailed information about its foraging behaviour and its potential as a managed pollinator of mango. Given the growing economic importance of protected cultivation of mango, our aim is to study the flight activity and foraging behaviour of E. aeneus on this crop. Eristalinus aeneus displayed a bimodal daily activity, with peaks during mid-morning and mid-afternoon. The activity was maintained over a wide range of temperature (from 17.8 up to 37.4°C), light intensity (from 8.2 up to 57.4 klux) and relative humidity (from 19.0 up to 88.8%). The syrphids were active most of the time in this crop, and we observed five different types of activity: foraging (67%), resting (17%), flying (10%), grooming (4%) and walking (2%). This hoverfly visited hermaphrodite flowers more often than male flowers. On average, it visited 36.46 ± 13.92 flowers per 5 min, with a higher number of floral visits for nectar feeding. The duration of the visits to hermaphrodite and male flowers was similar but pollen-feeding visits lasted longer (6.44 s per flower) than nectar-feeding ones (5.51 s per flower). The highest number of visits to mango inflorescences was observed during the morning, but the longest visits occurred at midday. The implication of these results for the potential use of E. aeneus as a managed pollinator in protected cultivation of mango is discussed.

Keywords

Eristalinus aeneusfloral visits of mango cropsforaging behaviourhoverfly pollinationpollination of protected mango crops
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 112 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 101 - 109
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrol, DP (2012) Pollination Biology: Biodiversity Conservation and Agricultural Production. Dordrecht: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alqarni, A, Ahmed, K, Hannan, M, Ghose, G and Munshi, J (2017) Flies for the pollination of greenhouse mango (Mangifera Indica L., Anacardiaceae) in the subtropical Iriomote Island, Japan. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh 43, 135–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, D, Sedgley, M, Short, J and Allwood, A (1982) Insect pollination of mango in northern Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 33, 541–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bally, ISE, Lu, P and Johnson, PR (2009) Mango breeding. In Jain, SM and Priyadarshan, PM (eds), Breeding Plantation Tree Crops: Tropical species. NY: Springer, pp. 51–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barton, K (2020) MuMIn: Multi-Model Inference. R package version 1.43.17. Available at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=MuMIn (Accessed 26 January 2021).Google Scholar
Bates, D, Mächler, M, Bolker, B and Walker, S (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software 67, 1–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chauhan, AK, Chandra, U and Gupta, PK (2018) Study of pollinator's diversity on mango (Mangifera indica L.) var. Amrapali. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 6, 974–975.Google Scholar
Comba, L (1999) Patch use by bumblebees (Hymenoptera apidae): temperature, wind, flower density and traplining. Ethology Ecology & Evolution 11, 243–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbet, SA, Willmer, PG, Beament, JWL, Unwin, DM and Prŷs-Jones, OE (1979) Post-secretory determinants of sugar concentration in nectar. Plant, Cell & Environment 2, 293–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dag, A and Gazit, S (2000) Mango pollinators in Israel. Journal of Applied Horticulture 2, 39–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Siqueira, KMM, Kiill, LHP, Martins, CF, Lemos, IB, Monteiro, SP and Feitoza, EdA (2008) Estudo comparativo da polinização de Mangifera indica L. em cultivo convencional e orgânico na região do Vale do Submédio do São Francisco. Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura 30, 303–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deuri, A, Rahman, A, Gogoi, J, Borah, P and Bathari, M (2018) Pollinator diversity and effect of Apis cerana F. pollination on yield of mango (Mangifera indica L.). Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 6, 957–961.Google Scholar
Du Toit, AP and Swart, DJ (1993) Pollination of mango in the Letsitele Valley during the 1992 flowering season: first report. Yearbook South African Mango Growers’ Association 13, 129–130.Google Scholar
Emtia, C and Ohno, K (2018) Foraging behavior of an aphidophagous Hoverfly, Sphaerophoria macrogaster (Thomson) on insectary plants. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 21, 323–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fajardo, A, Medina, J, Opina, O and Cervancia, C (2008) Insect pollinators and floral visitors of mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Carabao). The Philippine Agricultural Scientist 91, 372–382.Google Scholar
Free, JB (1993) Insect Pollination of Crops. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Free, JB and Williams, IH (1976) Insect pollination of Anacardium occidentale L., Mangifera indica L., Blighia sapida Koenig and Persea americana Mill. Tropical Agriculture 53, 125–139.Google Scholar
Galán-Saúco, V, Galván, D, Hernández Conde, JC and Navarro, A (1997) Preliminary studies on fruit-set of mango cultivar Tommy Atkins under greenhouse cultivation in the Canary Islands. Acta Horticulturae 455, 530–537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaye, MM, Maurer, AR and Seywerd, FM (1991) Honey bees placed under row covers affect muskmelon yield and quality. Scientia Horticulturae 47, 59–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, FS (1985) Diurnal activity patterns in hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae). Ecological Entomology 10, 385–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedtke, K, Jensen, PM, Jensen, AB and Genersch, E (2011) Evidence for emerging parasites and pathogens influencing outbreaks of stress-related diseases like chalkbrood. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 108, 167–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heinrich, B (1974) Thermoregulation in bumblebees. Journal of Comparative Physiology 88, 129–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinrich, B (1980) Mechanisms of body-temperature regulation in honeybees, Apis mellifera: II. Regulation of thoracic temperature at high air temperatures. Journal of Experimental Biology 85, 73–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrera, CM (1990) Daily patterns of pollinator activity, differential pollinating effectiveness, and floral resource availability, in a summer flowering Mediterranean shrub. Oikos 58, 277–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huda, AN, Salmah, MRC, Hassan, AA, Hamdan, A and Razak, MNA (2015) Pollination services of mango flower pollinators. Journal of Insect Science (Online) 15, 113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Innouye, DW, Larson, BMH, Ssymank, A and Kevan, PG (2015) Flies and flowers III: ecology of foraging and pollination. Journal of Pollination Ecology 16, 115–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiron, LF and Hedstrom, I (1985) Pollination ecology of mango (Mangifera indica L.) (Anacardiaceae) in the neotropic region. Turrialba 35, 269–277.Google Scholar
Kumar, P, Baskaran, S, Sundaravadivelan, C, Kuberan, T and Anburaj, J (2012) Influence of environmental factors on insect pollination activity of Mangifera indica Linn. Asian Journal of Plant Science and Research 2, 692–698.Google Scholar
Kumar, S, Joshi, PC, Nath, P, Singh, VK and Mansotra, DK (2016) Role of insects in pollination of mango trees. International Research Journal of Biological Sciences 5, 64–67.Google Scholar
Kuznetsova, A, Brockhoff, PB and Christensen, RHB (2017) lmerTest package: tests in linear mixed effects models. Journal of Statistical Software 82, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwon, YJ and Saeed, S (2003) Effect of temperature on the foraging activity of Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on greenhouse hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). Applied Entomology and Zoology 38, 275–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallik, PC (1957) Morphology and biology of the mango flower. Indian Journal of Horticulture 4, 1–23.Google Scholar
Marcos-García, MA (1985) Los Syrphidae (Diptera) de las sierras occidentales del Sistema Central español. Subfamilias : Eristalinae, Lampetiinae, Microdontinae, Milesiinae y Cerianinae. Boletín Asociación española Entomología IX, 187–210.Google Scholar
McGregor, SE (1976) Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crop Plants. Washington: Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Mohsen, AMA (2019) Survey of insect mango pollinators and the pollination occurrence of mango trees in relations to fruit yields. Current Science International 8, 245–251.Google Scholar
Morimoto, T, Kojima, Y, Toki, T, Komeda, Y, Yoshiyama, M, Kimura, K, Nirasawa, K and Kadowaki, T (2011) The habitat disruption induces immune-suppression and oxidative stress in honey bees. Ecology and Evolution 1, 201–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mukherjee, SK (1953) The mango – its botany, cultivation, uses and future improvement, especially as observed in India. Economic Botany 7, 130–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mukherjee, SK (1997) Introduction: botany and importance. In Litz, RE (ed.), The Mango. Botany, Production and Uses. Wallingford: CAB International, pp. 1–19.Google Scholar
Munj, A, Zote, V, Raut, R and Salvi, B (2017) Survey and surveillance of pollinators of mango in South Konkan coastal region of Maharashtra. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 5, 190–192.Google Scholar
Ne'eman, G, Jürgens, A, Newstrom-Lloyd, L, Potts, SG and Dafni, A (2010) A framework for comparing pollinator performance: effectiveness and efficiency. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 85, 435–451.Google ScholarPubMed
Pekas, A, De Craecker, I, Boonen, S, Wäckers, FL and Moerkens, R (2020) One stone; two birds: concurrent pest control and pollination services provided by aphidophagous hoverflies. Biological Control 149, 104328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez-Bañon, MC (2000) Biología de los sírfidos (Diptera: Syrphidae) de los ecosistemas insulares de la Comunidad Valenciana: aspectos de la relación sírfido-planta (Tesis Doctoral). Universidad de Alicante, Alicante.Google Scholar
Popenoe, W (1917) The Pollination of the Mango. Washington, DC: Department of Agriculture.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rader, R, Howlett, BG, Cunningham, SA, Westcott, DA, Newstrom-Lloyd, LE, Walker, MK, Teulon, DAJ and Edwards, W (2009) Alternative pollinator taxa are equally efficient but not as effective as the honeybee in a mass flowering crop. Journal of Applied Ecology 46, 1080–1087.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rajan, VV and Reddy, PVR (2019) A dead heat in pollination race: a comparative evaluation of the efficiency of a fly (Chrysomya megacephala) and a bee (Apis florea) in mango pollination. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 7, 1087–1091.Google Scholar
Reddy, PVR and Sreedevi, K (2016) Arthropod communities associated with mango (Mangifera Indica L.): diversity and interactions. In Economic and Ecological Significance of Arthropods in Diversified Ecosystems: Sustaining Regulatory Mechanisms. Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 271–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez-Gasol, N, Avilla, J, Alegre, S and Alins, G (2019) Sphaerophoria rueppelli adults change their foraging behavior after mating but maintain the same preferences to flower traits. BioControl 64, 149–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rotheray, GE and Gilbert, FS (2011) The Natural History of Hoverflies. Tresaith, Wales, UK: Forrest Text.Google Scholar
Sabara, HA and Winston, ML (2003) Managing honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) for greenhouse tomato pollination. Journal of Economic Entomology 96, 547–554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saeed, S, Naqqash, MN, Jaleel, W, Saeed, Q and Ghouri, F (2016) The effect of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) on the size and weight of mangos (Mangifera indica L.). PeerJ 4, e2076.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, R, Abbas, SR, Shukia, RP and Sharma, S (1998) An easy and quick method of breeding flies for pollination of mango blossoms. Insect Environment 4, 76–77.Google Scholar
Sihag, RC and Abrol, DP (1986) Correlation and path-coefficient analysis of environmental factors influencing flight activity of Apis florea F. Journal of Apicultural Research 25, 202–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon-Delso, N, Martin, GS, Bruneau, E, Minsart, L-A, Mouret, C and Hautier, L (2014) Honeybee colony disorder in crop areas: the role of pesticides and viruses. PLoS ONE 9, e103073.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, RN (1954) Studies on floral biology and subsequent production of fruits in the mango (Mangifera indica L.) varieties Dushehari and Langra. Indian Journal of Horticulture 11, 69–88.Google Scholar
Singh, LB (1960) The Mango: Botany, Cultivation and Utilization. London: L. Hill.Google Scholar
Soleyman-Nezhadiyan, E and Laughlin, R (1998) Voracity of larvae, rate of development in eggs, larvae and pupae, and flight seasons of adults of the hoverflies Melangyna viridiceps Macquart and Symosyrphus grandicornis Macquart (Diptera: Syrphidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 37, 243–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, JH, Pigozzo, CM and Viana, BF (2010) Polinização de manga (Mangifera indica L. – Anacardiaceae) variedade Tommy Atkins, no vale do São Francisco, Bahia. Oecologia Australis 14, 165–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Souza, DTM and Halak, AL (2009) Comportamento de forrageamento de abelhas e outros insetos nas panículas da mangueira (Mangifera indica L.) e produção de frutos. Acta Scientiarum. Animal Sciences 31, 335–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speight, MCD (2011) Species Accounts of European Syrphidae (Diptera), Vol. 65. Glasgow: Syrph the Net publications.Google Scholar
Ssymank, A (1991) Die funktionale Bedeutung des Vegetationsmosaiks eines Waldgebietes der Schwarzwaldvorbergzone für blütenbesuchende Insekten: untersucht am Beispiel der Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae). Phytocoenologia 19, 307–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ssymank, A (2001) Vegetation und blütenbesuchende Insekten in der Kulturlandschaft: Pflanzengesellschaften, Blühphänologie, Biotopbindung und Raumnutzung von Schwebfliegen (Diptera, Syrphidae) im Drachenfelser Ländchen sowie Methodenoptimierung und Landschaftsbewertung. Tierwelt in der Zivilisationslandschaft, Teil V Schriftenreihe für Landschaftspflege und Naturschutz.Google Scholar
Sukhvibul, N, Whiley, AW, Smith, MK, Hetherington, SE and Vithanage, V (1999) Effect of temperature on inflorescence development and sex expression of mono- and poly-embryonic mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars. The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology 74, 64–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sung, IH, Lin, MY, Chang, CH, Cheng, AS and Chen, WS (2006) Pollinators and their behaviors on mango flowers in Southern Taiwan. Formosan Entomologist 26, 161–170.Google Scholar
Szabo, TI (1980) Effect of weather factors on honeybee flight activity and colony weight gain. Journal of Apicultural Research 19, 164–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thyselius, M, Gonzalez-Bellido, PT, Wardill, TJ and Nordström, K (2018) Visual approach computation in feeding hoverflies. Journal of Experimental Biology 221, jeb177162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Usha, and Srivastava, P (2018) Foraging reward and foraging behavior of insect visitors on mango flowers during blooming period. Bulletin of Environment, Pharmacology and Life Sciences 8, 99–102.Google Scholar
Usha, U, Srivastava, P and Goswami, V (2014) Diversity of floral insect visitors of mango during blooming period at Pantnagar. The Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 84, 363–364.Google Scholar
Usman, M, Bilquees, F and Jaskani, M (2001) Breeding in mango. International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 8530, 522–526.Google Scholar
Vasanthakumar, S, Aruna, R and Srinivasan, MR (2018) Pollinator diversity in mango ecosystem in major mango growing areas of Tamil Nadu. International Conference on Biocontrol and Sustainable Insect Pest Management (ICBS 2018), India, 83–85.Google Scholar
Venables, WN and Ripley, BD (2002) Modern Applied Statistics with S. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vishwakarma, R and Singh, R (2017) Foraging behaviour of insect visitors and their effect on yield of mango var. Amrapali. Indian Journal of Entomology 79, 72–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wellington, W and Fitzpatrick, S (1981) Territoriality in the drone fly, Eristalis tenax (Diptera: Syrphidae). The Canadian Entomologist 113, 695–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willmer, PG (1983) Thermal constraints on activity patterns in nectar-feeding insects. Ecological Entomology 8, 455–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wratten, SD, White, AJ, Bowie, MH, Berry, NA and Weigmann, U (1995) Phenology and ecology of hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) in New Zealand. Environmental Entomology 24, 595–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar