Visitantes florais de Lagerstroemia speciosa Pers: (Lythraceae) Floral visitors in Lagerstroemia speciosa Pers: (Lythraceae)

<abstract language="eng">Studies were carried out with Lagerstroemia speciosa Pers. on floral reproductive systems, diversity and constancy of visiting insects at different hours of day, the behaviour of these insects at the flowers and the influence of these environmental factors in relation to their visits. The fenology, anthesis and others particularity of this vegetal species was studied. A great diversity of insects was verified visiting the flowers with the predominance of bees. The most frequent and constant species encountered were: Nannotrigona testaceicornis (Lepeletier, 1836) (40,2%), Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) (16,9%), Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 (11,8%), Plebeia droryana (Friese, 1900) (9,1 %) e Exomalopsis fulvofasciata (Smith, 1879) (8,5%). The blossoms possessis features of melittophily syndrome and diurnal anthesis. The environmental factors influence the insects foraging activity, mainly temperature, light, time of day, humidity and wind speed. The effective pollinators were the large insects like Bombus morio (Swederus, 1787), Bombus atratus (Franklin, 1913), Centris tarsata (Smith, 1874), Centris flavifrons Fabricius, 1775, Xylocopa suspecta Camargo & Moure, 1988, Xylocopa frontalis (Olivier, 1789) and Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier, 1841

Honey bee contribution to canola pollination in Southern Brazil Abelhas melíferas na polinização de canola no Sul do Brasil

Although canola, (Brassica napus L.), is considered a self-pollinating crop, researchers have indicated that crop productivity increases as a result of honey bee Apis mellifera L. pollination. Given this crop's growing importance in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, this work evaluated the increase in pod and seed productivity with respect to interactions with anthophilous insects and manual pollination tests. The visiting frequency of A. mellifera was correlated with the crop's blooming progression, and productivity comparisons were made between plants visited by insects, manually pollinated plants (geitonogamy and xenogamy) and plants without pollination induction. Pod set and seed production per plant were determined for each treatment. Among the 8,624 recorded flower-visiting insects, Hymenoptera representatives were the most prevalent (92.3%), among which 99.8% were A. mellifera. The correlation between these bees and blooming progression was positive (r = 0.87; p = 0.002). Pollination induction increased seed productivity from 28.4% (autogamy) to 50.4% with insect visitations, as well as to 48.7 (geitonogamy) and to 55.1% (xenogamy) through manual pollination.<br>A canola (Brassica napus L.) é considerada autocompatível, embora pesquisadores indiquem aumento na produtividade da cultura resultante da polinização efetuada por Apis mellifera L.. Considerando-se a crescente importância dessa cultura no Rio Grande do Sul, avaliou-se o incremento da produtividade de síliquas e sementes a partir de interações com insetos antófilos e com testes de polinização manual. A freqüência de visitas de A. mellifera foi relacionada com o desenvolvimento da floração da cultura e a produtividade foi comparada entre plantas visitadas por insetos, polinizadas manualmente (geitonogamia e xenogamia) e com ausência de indução de polinização. Em cada tratamento avaliou-se a produtividade de síliquas e de sementes formadas por planta. Dentre os 8.624 insetos visitantes florais registrados destacaram-se representantes de Hymenoptera (92,3%), dos quais 99,8% eram A. mellifera. A relação entre essas abelhas e o curso da floração foi positiva (r = 0,87; p = 0,002). A indução de polinização elevou a produtividade de sementes de 28,3% (autogamia) para 50,4% com livre visita de insetos e com polinização manual, respectivamente, para 48,7 (geitonogamia) e 55,1% (xenogamia)