Study on floral visitation behavior and pollen-carrying features of Chinese honey bee,Apis cerana cerana in the authentic production area of Amomum villosum
As one of the four major southern medicinal herbs in China,Amomum villosum Lour.possesses multiple medicinal properties and has a long history of usage.The authentic production area for A.villosum is Yangchun City and its surrounding regions in Guangdong Province.For a long time,due to the scarcity of pollinating insects in the wild,the natural fruit set rate of A.villosum in the authentic production area has been low,leading to low yields.This has seriously affected the sustainable development of related industries in the local area.This study first conducted observations on the flowering and floral morphology of A.villosum in its authentic production area.Secondly,a survey of pollinating insect resources was carried out.Finally,particular emphasis was placed on analyzing the foraging preference and pollination potential of the Chinese honeybee,Apis cerana cerana Fabr.Observations revealed that on one hand,the floral characteristics of A.villosum were not conducive to self-pollination and general insect pollination.However,on the other hand,the flowers had a large quantity of pollen dispersion and nectar secretion,which were favorable for attracting insect pollinators.Through the investigation,a total of three flower-visiting insects were identified:A.cerana cerana Fabr.,Tapinoma melanocephalum Fabr.,Drosophila sp.and Forficula auricularia L.Among these,A.cerana cerana was the primary flower-visiting insect.The behavioral observations indicated that the pollen-foraging behavior of A.cerana cerana potentially facilitated pollination for A.villosum,while their honey collection behavior did not contribute to pollination.However,A.cerana cerana exhibited a significant preference in its foraging behavior—the bees more frequently collected nectar(average proportion of 77.4％),rather than pollen(average proportion of 22.6％).Additionally,various parts of the Chinese honeybee's body could carry pollen when foraging,but the amount of pollen carried differed among different body parts.In summary,the Chinese honeybee was the primary pollinating insect for A.villosum in its authentic production area.However,its foraging preference reduces the pollination efficiency.Therefore,in the future,by altering the foraging preference of Chinese honeybees and increasing the ratio of pollen-foraging behavior,it may be possible to enhance the pollination efficiency of Chinese honeybees for A.villosum.
万方数据
维普
