scholarly journals Impact of Pollinator Insects Associated with Cucumber Fruit Set

Author(s):  
Md. Ruhul Amin ◽  
S. Nahid ◽  
Sang Jae Suh

Background: Cucumber is one of the popular vegetables of the cultivated cucurbits. Different insect species harbored with cucumber plant and they influence on its production, but little have been studied in Bangladesh. This study investigated the abundance of the insect species and the impact of insect pollinators on cucumber yield. Methods: Investigation was conducted in summer and rainy seasons at Gazipur, Bangladesh. Insects were collected and categorized as pest, predator, pollinator and casual visitor. Occurrence of the insects at different hours of the day and impact of supplemented insect pollinators on fruit and seed set compared to natural and hand pollination were studied. Result: In total thirty species of insects were found with cucumber plants and their relative abundances ranged from 0.4 to 13.7%. We found ten species of insects as pest, ten species as predator, four species as pollinator and six species as casual visitor. The red pumpkin beetle, epilachna beetle and fruit fly were found as the major pests. The red pumpkin beetle revealed the top ranks among the insects and the highest abundance of the insects occurred at 09:00 h of the day. Supplemented insect pollinators revealed higher yield, which indicated the significant for conserving insect pollinators.

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 1363-1368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heléne Fröborg

Using experimental manipulations, I examined if pollen quality affected fruit and seed production in five ericaceous understory shrubs in a coniferous forest in central Sweden. Flowers of Vaccinium myrtillus L., Vaccinium uliginosum L., Vaccinium vitis-idaea L., Vaccinium oxycoccos Gil., and Andromeda polifolia L. were (treatment 1) open-pollinated, (treatment 2) bagged without further treatment, (treatment 3) bagged and self-pollinated, (treatment 4) cross-pollinated with pollen from neighbouring plants, or (treatment 5) supplied with pollen from distant plants. Finally, flowers were (treatment 6) open-pollinated with a supply of extra pollen of distant origin. To investigate pollen or resource limitations to fruit and seed production, V. vitis-idaea was subjected to partial flower removal followed by open- and hand-pollination. Fruit and seed set were estimated for each treatment. The main conclusion is that natural levels of outcrossing are sufficiently high for full seed production and that the availability of pollen is not limiting in natural habitats. There were significant reductions in fruit and seed set after self-pollination in V. myrtillus. Fruit set was reduced in V. vitis-idaea, and V. uliginosum failed to set fruit after self-pollination. Self-pollination caused a decreased seed set in A. polifolia. There was no significant variation across treatments in V. oxycoccos. Since fruits tend to develop regardless of seed number, resources are likely to limit seed production in species with costly fruits. Keywords: self-fertility, pollination, Vaccinium, fruit set, seed set.


2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike A. Voigt ◽  
Stefanie Jung ◽  
Nina Farwig ◽  
Katrin Böhning-Gaese

Dioecious plant species differ in floral morphology and rewards between females and males. Pistillate flowers on female plants often lack pollen and can be less attractive to pollinators, which can have consequences for the visitation rates of the sexes. We studied the pollination ecology of the dioecious tree Commiphora harveyi in a coastal scarp forest in eastern South Africa. Floral display, visiting insect species, visitation rate and natural fruit set were recorded. Additionally, we pollinated flowers by hand to determine experimental fruit set. We found that male trees had more and larger flowers per inflorescence than female trees. Both sexes produced nectar in low amounts. During 203.5 h of observation we recorded 28 insect species visiting the flowers. No difference in mean visitation rate (0.20 visits per flower h−1) was recorded between the sexes. The daily and seasonal pattern was similar between the sexes. The natural fruit set was low (3.8%) and increased significantly with hand-pollination (45.5%), an indication of pollen limitation. We compared our results with the pollination ecology of C. guillauminii in Madagascar, a dioecious tree species on an island with a depauperate pollinator fauna. This comparison revealed a similar pattern with low visitation rates, low insect diversity and low fruit set, suggesting that this pattern may be more common in dioecious tree species than previously reported in the literature.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Paul ◽  
Guillaume Giraud ◽  
Katrin Domsch ◽  
Marilyne Duffraisse ◽  
Frédéric Marmigère ◽  
...  

AbstractFlying insects have invaded all the aerial space on Earth and this astonishing radiation could not have been possible without a remarkable morphological diversification of their flight appendages. Here, we show that characteristic spatial expression profiles and levels of the Hox genes Antennapedia (Antp) and Ultrabithorax (Ubx) underlie the formation of two different flight organs in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. We further demonstrate that flight appendage morphology is dependent on specific Hox doses. Interestingly, we find that wing morphology from evolutionary distant four-winged insect species is also associated with a differential expression of Antp and Ubx. We propose that variation in the spatial expression profile and dosage of Hox proteins is a major determinant of flight appendage diversification in Drosophila and possibly in other insect species during evolution.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 815
Author(s):  
Sandra V. Rojas-Nossa ◽  
José María Sánchez ◽  
Luis Navarro

Floral development depends on multifactor processes related to genetic, physiological, and ecological pathways. Plants respond to herbivores by activating mechanisms aimed at tolerating, compensating, or avoiding loss of biomass and nutrients, and thereby survive in a complex landscape of interactions. Thus, plants need to overcome trade-offs between development, growth, and reproduction vs. the initiation of anti-herbivore defences. This study aims to assess the frequency of phloem-feeding herbivores in wild populations of the Etruscan honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca Santi) and study their effects on floral development and reproduction. The incidence of herbivory by the honeysuckle aphid (Hyadaphis passerinii del Guercio) was assessed in three wild populations of the Iberian Peninsula. The effect of herbivory on floral morphology, micromorphology of stigmas and pollen, floral rewards, pollination, and fruit and seed set were studied. The herbivory by aphids reduces the size of flowers and pollen. Additionally, it stops nectar synthesis and causes malformation in pollen and microstructures of stigmas, affecting pollination. As a consequence, fruit set and seed weight are reduced. This work provides evidence of the changes induced by phloem-feeding herbivores in floral development and functioning that affect the ecological processes necessary to maintain the reproductive success of plants.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Lidiya Vasilyevna Privalko

In recent decades floral devices in a natural style has been becoming more common in gardening. In this connection there was a need for the introduction and study of the natural flora of plants in order to attract them to simulate the decorative and resistant plants. The article presents the results of studies of the effect of different light conditions on the habitat features and decorative biomorphological Hylotelephium triphyllum (Haw.) Holub (Crassulaceae DC.) when introduced in SE Donetsk Botanical Garden. This species is found naturally in the flora of Donbass, a decorative, but, according to the results of our analysis, is rarely used in green construction. Bioecological certification of this type has been done. It has been determined that the impact of site lighting conditions on the growth and development of H. triphyllum expressed in significantly smaller numbers of vegetative and generative shoots in the shaded areas. However, since the diameter of the plants does not change, more thickened planting in these areas is not recommended. The author found the dependence of the variation of the biometric data on the lighting conditions. In the study of seasonal dynamics of H. triphyllum the author revealed that the development of above-ground organs of his passes with a positive amount of average daily air temperatures. The growing season lasts an average of 225 days. Start of spring regrowth is observed in the second half of March - early April, flowering - in August - September, fruits - in September - October. Vegetation stops when temperature goes below zero. Illumination of this type of habitat affect the time of vegetation beginning, budding, flowering, fruit set and fruit-bearing. On the shaded areas due to the later start of budding and flowering the most decorative period of H. triphyllum is shorter by an average of 10 days. This type is recommended for creation of group planting, stony hills, dry streams, rock gardens, rockeries, mixborders, curbs, ornamental compositions in the coastal zone of ornamental ponds and fountains in the steppe zone in areas with different light conditions, taking into account the above factors.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farag Mahmoud

A survey of insects associated with sesame, Sesamun indicum L. (Pedaliaceae) was conducted at the Agriculture Research Farm of The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Suez Canal during the growing seasons 2010 and 2011. All different insect species found on the experimental site were collected for identification. Sampling was done once a week and three times a day. Three methods were used to collect insects from the sesame plants (a sweep net, pitfall traps, digital camera and eye observation). A total of 31 insect species were collected and properly identified during the survey. Insects recorded on the plants were divided into four groups, true pollinators (Hymenoptera), other pollinators (Diptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera), pests (Orthoptera, Odonata, Hemiptera and Homoptera) and natural enemies (Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera and Dictyoptera). For studying the impact of insect pollination on sesame production, the experiment was divided in two: opened and non-opened pollination of sesame. 50 plants from nonopened pollination were covered with a perforated paper bag to allow the air to pass through and to prevent insects from approaching the plants. Quantitative and qualitative parameters were measured as follows: pod weight, number of seeds in each pod, weight of 1000 seeds, germination (%), seedlings vigour and oil content (%). Results clearly demonstrate that the opened pollination improved the crop production.


Author(s):  
Muzaffar Ahmad Ganie ◽  
Amit Kumar Pal ◽  
Nazeer Ahmad

It is now clear that over use of pesticides and intensive management of orchards can lead to drastic declines in apple pollinator abundance and crop failures. During the period of study a grower’s survey was conducted to know about knowledge of farmers on native insect pollinators, pollinator management practices, their perceptions of the importance and utility of native pollinators, and their attitudes regarding pesticide application. Despite of having significant knowledge of managed pollination, only few farmers (2%) adopted supplementary methods of pollination (renting honey bee colonies, hand pollination etc.). In Pulwama, 60% of farmers had knowledge about native insect pollinators and 40% did not have any idea of native pollinators and in case of Shopian, the figures were fifty-fifty i.e. 50% had knowledge about native insect pollinators and 50% were unaware. During the period of investigation, native insect pollinators were sampled from different apple orchards under different management systems in early spring during apple flowering. A total of 17 species of insect pollinators belonging to 11 families and 3 orders_ Hymenoptera, Diptera and Lepidoptera registered their occurrence at all the studied apple orchards of the Kashmir Valley. At all the study sites i.e. apple orchards under different management systems, family Halictidae and Empididae registered their presence as dominant groups. The % family contribution of the former at different orchard types decreased with increase in the intensity of the management system and the % family contribution of the later however, showed a direct relationship with the management system found, i.e. the more intense the system, the more abundant was the group. Other groups in general did not show any greater differences in abundances at different sites studied.


2019 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
David A.J. Teulon ◽  
John M. Kean ◽  
Karen F. Armstrong

Fruit flies (Family Tephritidae), in particular the Queensland fruit fly (Bactrocera tryoni; QFF), areone of the biggest biosecurity risks for New Zealand horticulture. New Zealand has one of the bestscience-based biosecurity systems in the world, based on years of experience and sound research. Theintroduction of fruit flies to New Zealand is now well managed in commercial fruit imports, but the riskis rising from growing trade and travel and, in the case of QFF, climatic adaptation and spread to moresouthern localities. Smarter solutions are continually needed to manage this increasing risk, and to dealwith such pests when they arrive. We present a brief summary of current and anticipated research aimedat reducing the likelihood of entry into New Zealand and/or minimising the impact for the fruit flyspecies of greatest threat to New Zealand. Research spans risk assessment, pathway risk management,diagnostics, surveillance and eradication.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Jiang ◽  
Yunbo Shi ◽  
Wenjie Zhao

The accuracy of the magnetic core model is important to the analysis and design of the flux-gate sensor. The Jiles-Atherton model (J-A model) is the mostly used model to describe the hysteresis characteristics of the flux-gate core. But the parameters of J-A model are difficult to identify. In this paper, Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm (FOA) is proposed to identify the parameters of the J-A model. In order to enhance the performance of the identification, a Modified Fruit Fly Optimization Algorithm (MFOA) is applied to extract the parameters of the flux-gate core. The effectiveness of MFOA is verified through five typical test functions. The influence of variation factor h on the performance of MFOA is discussed. The impact of variation factor h on parameters extraction of hysteresis loop is studied. It is shown that MFOA with appropriate selection of variation factor h will get better performance in the accuracy, stability, and simulation time compared to those of PSO and FOA.


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