Floral visitors of basil (Ocimum basilicum) at Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

In the present study, pollinator community of basil (Ocimum Basilicum L.) was explored at Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan. The results indicated that eight bee species, two wasp species, one fly and one butterfly species visited the flowers of O. Basilicum. Bees were found to be the most abundant floral visitors (1294 individuals) followed by wasp (208 individuals), fly (10 individuals) and butterflies (37 individuals). Among all pollinator species, Apis florea and Apis dorsata bees had the highest abundance (285 and 272 individuals, respectively). The highest visitation rate was recorded in Nomia oxybeloides (10.65±3.6 numbers of flowers/minute) followed by A. florea (6.2±3.8 numbers of flowers/minute) while Zizeeria krasandra butterfly had the lowest visitation rate (0.93±0.24 numbers of flowers/minute). The maximum visitation frequency (individuals/flower/minute) was recorded in A. florea (0.78±0.06) and the lowest in Vespa orientalis (0.18±0.01).