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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: msanchez@polyfly.es, sanchezfernandezmanuela87@gmail.com
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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
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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