Biodiversity of pollinators in four bee-friendly plant species

Abstract

Bees are the primary pollinators of many important agricultural crops. Enhancing the suitability of farm landscapes for native pollinators by growing flowering non crop plants is necessary for in-situ conservation of bee pollinators. A study has been conducted to find the role of four different plants, viz., Hamelia patens, Ocimum basilicum, Asystesia sp. and Jacquemontia sp. in the conservation of native bee pollinators. The different species of bees visiting the flowers were Apis cerana, A. florea, Hoplonomia sp., Amegilla zonata, A. confusa and Ceratina hieroglyphica . The diversity indices were higher during morning hours than the afternoon. The number of bees visited per flower, time spent and numbers of flowers visited on Jacquemontia sp. were more compared to other plant species. Biodiversity indices were calculated by using Insect Biodiversity Analysis Portal, which is an online tool to carry out biodiversity analysis and hosted at https://www. nbair.res.in/Biodiversity. The planting of bee-friendly plant species as identified in this study will help support healthy, diverse pollinator and other beneficial insect communities.