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FORAGING BEHAVIOR OF BOMBUS (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN RELATION TO AQUILEGIA POLLINATION
Author(s) -
Macior Lazarus Walter
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1966.tb07340.x
Subject(s) - biology , nectar , foraging , hymenoptera , pollinator , pollination , forage , apidae , botany , apoidea , pollen , perforation , anthesis , ecology , cultivar , materials science , metallurgy , punching
Observations on native and cultivated plants indicated that the ruby‐throated hummingbird ( Archilochus colubris L.) and at least four species of Bombus are probably effective pollinators of Aquilegia canadensis L. in southeastern Wisconsin. Bombus affinis Cresson perforated more than 90% of 2173 nectar spurs of flowers at full anthesis on wild plants. Cinematographic and stereo‐photographic records of insects revealed a general behavioral pattern of mandibular perforation following exploration by antennae, maxillae, and tongue. Pollen‐foraging behavior on 19 cultivated Aquilegia species and varieties was uniform, but nectar‐foraging behavior varied with flower form and position and not with color variation within one flower form. Observations on marked insects showed that workers tended to forage in one manner on one plant variety, while queens foraging in one or more ways visited up to five different flower forms on one flight. Initial observations on neonate workers from a cultivated B. affinis colony suggested that a probably innate mandibular perforation behavior is not instinctively directed toward nectar‐bearing floral parts, and that foraging behavior is capable of rapid establishment and considerable versatility.