Flower - visiting insect pollinators of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] in Bengaluru region

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during 2016-17 with an objective to study the flower-visiting insect pollinators of okra in Bengaluru region, Karnataka, India. The okra flowers were frequently visited by insects belongs to Hymenopteran order. Among them Apis spp were the most dominant visitors constitute 41.75 % of the total insect pollinators followed by Lasius niger and Solenopsis invicta with 34.23% and 24.02% respectively. The foraging population of Apis spp, Lasius niger and Solenopsis invicta was positively correlated with maximum temperature whereas, it was negatively correlated with relative humidity during evening hours for Apis spp and negatively correlated with relative humidity in the morning hours for Lasius niger and Solenopsis invicta. This study clearly revealed that all the observed insect pollinators had differences in their response to the recorded weather parameters during flowering period of okra.