Pollination study of Euphorbia helioscopia (Euphorbiaceae)
2014
Kim, D.I., Kyungnam National University, Changwon, Republic of Korea | Park, K.R., Kyungnam National University, Changwon, Republic of Korea
The present study was conducted to understand the growth pattern, pollinators and their frequency of visits of Euphorbia helioscopia population which is located at Tongyoung areas in Korea. The vegetative parts of the species grow early in March, and flowering begins in the middle of the month, and pollination was completed at the mid of April. As a typical form of early spring type, the fruits of E. helioscopia were matured between early in April and May, and the upper parts of plants were disappeared between May and June. During the blooming season about 11 insects species which belong to Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera and Heteroptera were the most common groups found on this plants. Among them the species of Diptera are the most dominant pollinators for E. helioscopia which is concordant to previous reports in Euphorbia species. Despite of significant numbers of insect visitors in Euphorbia species being reported, E. helioscopia attracts only 11 insect species in study areas, and the paucity of species probably associates with the insect fauna in Tongyoung areas or typical patterns of early spring bloomer of Euphorbias. We observed majority of Diptera species to visit in the morning, and the frequency of visit decreased in the afternoon. Thus, it suggests that the visiting activity of Diptera species is not associated with the temperature increase which was reported in Euphorbia species. However, the number of the cyathium during the blooming season is likely to be related to the frequency of visit of pollinators in E. helioscopia.
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