UTILIZATION OF NON-APIS SPECIES FOR POLLINATION

摘要

Not all plants are visited by honey bees (Apis spp.). Floral traits such as morphology, colour, shape, size and anthesis influence the type of visitors. There is always a correspondence between floral traits and behavior of pollinators. Smaller flowers are visited by smaller insects like stingless bees, Trigona spp., while bigger flowers are visited by carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp and bumble bees, Bombus spp. This paper describes the utilization of non-Apis species, specifically Trigona sp. and carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp., in crop pollination and methods of mass producing them.