Insectos polinizadores e seu efeito na produção de pereira Rocha na Região do Oeste
2011
Reis, Catarina Andreia Flausino | Silva, José Carlos Franco Santos | Figueiredo, Elisabete
Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de Agronomia
Show more [+] Less [-]The present work was aimed at studying the effect of insect pollinators in the production of fruits, identifying the major groups of flower visiting insects, determining the frequency of visits to flowers along the day, throughout the flowering period, and studying pollinators’ behavior during flower visiting, in four orchards of ‘Rocha’ pear in the Oeste region, Portugal. The possibility of using artificial nests to enhance the colonization and maintenance of pear pollinator populations within the vicinity of pear orchards was also evaluated. The isolation of branches by net bags, in order to prevent the access of insect to flowers, significantly affected fruit setting, had some effect on fruit shape, did not influence fruit weight, and reduced the number of seeds per fruit. The number of flower visits varied in function of the orchards, the period of the day and the group of insects. Nectar was the resource more frequently collected by insects visiting pear flowers. Five Hymenoptera genera were identified in the orchards: Andrena, Anthophora, Bombus, Ceratina and Eucera. The artificial nests were colonized mainly by Osmia bees.
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