Diptera flower visitors of Adonis vernalis in the Bakony Mts (Hungary)

Abstract

The number of pollinators has decreased significantly in the last decades, producing a situation that is frequently mentioned as a “pollination crisis”. In our study we document Diptera taxa collected on the early-flowering, legally protected Adonis vernalis L. According to our former observations, species of the Aculeata suborder (Hymenoptera) are the main pollinators of A. vernalis. Besides them many insects visit the flowers of Adonis, thus helping pollination directly or indirectly. Diptera taxa were collected in the spring of 2019 from three sites of the Bakonyvidék Mesoregion in Hungary. At Szentkirályszabadja and Veszprém-Kádárta villages the species Sphaerophoria scripta (19 and 10 individuals, respectively), on the Csatár Hill Chrysotoxum vernale and Pipizella viduata (3–3 individuals) were found the most frequent visitors. At each study site most of the collected insects were members of the Syrphidae family. Of the collected Diptera species only 2 species belonged to the Nematocera suborder, all the others belonged to the Brachycera suborder. At Veszprém-Kádárta we also found three Tephritidae larvae in the flowers.