Carrot weather pollen12/5/2023 However, other potential pollinator species including other bee (Megachildae and Bombus spp.) and Diptera have demonstrated greater tolerance to these weather conditions. mellifera) is restricted by cloudy, cool, windy, humid, or wet weather. For example, the activity of syrphids, butterflies, and many bee species (including A. įurther compounding this issue is how weather conditions impact insect pollinator flower visitation. mellifera has been observed to preferentially visit MF plants over CMS field plantings in some studies, reducing pollination success of CMS lines with increased distance from MF lines. In hybrid carrot seed crops, cytoplasmically sterile (CMS) or male-sterile flower beds up to eight-rows wide are alternated with beds of male-fertile (MF) lines, making pollinator movement between rows critical to pollination success. mellifera remains the primary vector for carrot pollen in commercial cropping due to their ease of management compared to wild pollinators. Furthermore, due to the broad endemic geographic range of wild Daucus carota, it has most likely adapted to having pollination services provided by multiple insect orders and/or species. Indeed, several other insect orders have been demonstrated to provide pollination services to carrot flowers, including Dipteran (Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Syrphidae and Chloropidae ), and Coleopteran species. For this reason, it is being increasingly recognized that species rich wild pollinator assemblages should be utilized to ameliorate the production losses that are observed when relying on a single pollinator species. mellifera does not always provide adequate yields in hybrid carrot seed crops. However, despite single-species pollinator management providing acceptable yields in some seed production systems, sole reliance on A. This strategy has serviced the open-pollinated carrot lines by increasing seed yield and fertility. This means that a single plant within a crop is potentially attractive to insect pollinators for two to three weeks.Ĭurrently, hybrid carrot seed production is generally reliant on hives of the European honey bee, Apis mellifera. Each umbel is receptive to pollen for a period of two to four days. During the flowering period, carrot umbels reach receptivity sequentially, starting with the primary umbel and progressing to secondary, tertiary, and if present, quaternary umbels. įor carrot flowers, the duration of flowering in a single crop is approximately six weeks, over which time the crop may experience fluctuations in pollinator visitation. Although surveys of carrot seed crops have revealed that many potential pollinator species visit carrot seed crops at flowering, poor pollination is a known problem for the growers. Consequently, we suggest both optimizing honey bee management and improving the attraction of carrot lines to honey bees to improve pollination rates for hybrid carrot seed crops.Įffective pollination of carrot seed crops through insect vectors is critical to commercial success. In contrast to other visiting insects, honey bees were abundant and frequent visitors and were observed carrying high pollen loads. All observed insect taxa were more frequently seen visiting male-fertile than male-sterile umbels. tenax foraged across rows, carrying equal pollen loads regardless of their distance from the pollen source. Honey bees and muscoid flies were observed to forage mostly within the male fertile carrot row while nectar scarabs and E. The highest pollen loads were carried by nectar scarabs, honey bees, and the hover fly Eristalis tenax (Linnaeus). To evaluate the potential of the various insects visiting hybrid carrot flowers to facilitate pollen transfer, this study examines insect visitation rates to hybrid carrot seed crops in relation to weather, time of day and season, pollen carrying capacity, inter-row movement, and visitation frequency to male-fertile and male-sterile umbels. Insect crop visitations do not necessarily translate to carriage or transfer of pollen.
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