Abstract:

To explore the dominant pollinators of pear trees, we investigated the wild pollinators of pear trees in the plain and mountainous areas in Shanxi, and analyzed the species, quantity and flower-visiting behavior of the wild pollinators. The results showed that there were 4 orders, 15 families and 22 species in the two different eco-regions. The species and quantities of pollinators in the mountainous areas were more abundant than those in plain areas. Apis cerana cerana, Anthophora plumipes and Andrena thoracica were the dominant pollinators. All the three bee species visited upper middle flowers of the trunk frequently, the proportion of the upper flowers, middle flowers and lower flowers visited by Apis cerana cerana was 36.9%, 51.1%, 12.0%, respectively; by Anthophora plumipes was 46.5%, 38.0%, 15.5%, respectively, and by Andrena thoracica was 41.2%, 37.6%, 21.2%, respectively. The visiting frequency of Apis cerana cerana and Anthophora plumipes was (11.95±0.87) flowers/min and (12.52±2.16) flowers/min, respectively, which was significantly higher than (6.64±0.56) flowers/min of Andrena thoracica, so Apis cerana cerana was the ideal pollinators for pear trees. The research provides a theoretical basis for clarifying the current situation of pear tree pollinators in Shanxi and establishing a database of wild pollinators and pear tree pollination bees.

Key words: pear trees, dominant pollinators, visiting frequency, daily activity pattern, flower-visiting behavior