Visitation and gnawing behaviour of Japanese honeybee Apis cerana japonica to lettuce
2015
Yokoi, Tomoyuki
The Japanese honeybee, Apis cerana japonica, is regarded as an important pollinator of crops and wild flowers. On the other hand, its gnawing behaviour on lettuce Lactuca spp. results in serious damage to the crop yield. Little is known about the gnawing behaviour of A. c. japonica. In the present study, field experiments were conducted to clarify the seasonality of this behaviour and the preference of A. c. japonica toward lettuce. The rates of lettuce damage by gnawing differed among furrows, and the maximum rate was 17 %, while A. c. japonica showed no preference according to lettuce type. The rate of gnawing behaviour on lettuce 31 days from seeding was significantly higher than that on lettuce at 20 days. Lettuce gnawing of A. c. japonica was not confirmed in spring but was seen in autumn, while there was no visitation to the lettuce by the European honeybee, Apis mellifera. These results suggested that A. c. japonica might require substances produced by lettuce in autumn for overwintering.
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