PRESENTATION BY MANISHA tt

BENEFICIAL INSECTSPOLLINATORS

WEED KILLERSSCAVENGERS

POLLINATORS Pollinators are animals that

transfer pollen from the anthers to the stigma of a flower, enabling the flower to set seed and fruit (fertilization) and, through cross-fertilization, they play an important role in maintaining plant diversity.

ANIMALSMany flowering plants rely on

animals for cross-pollination: Insects – bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, moths

Birds – hummingbirds, honey creepers

Mammals – bats, mice, monkeys

Even some reptiles and amphibians!

POLLINATORS

World Crop Pollination73% Bees - 5% beetles19% flies - 4% birds6.5 % bats - 5% wasps4% butterflies and moths

INSECT POLLINATORS Apis species- mellifera, cerana, dorsata and florea Stingless bees Bumble bees Alkali bees Scolids Andrenids Xylocopids Halictids Megachilids Anthophorids Syrphids- Episyrphus, Eristalis, Ischiodon Other dipterans like Musca, midges, calliphorids Lepidopterans

ANIMAL POLLINATORS: BEES Bees – are the most important group of

flower pollinators They live on the nectar and feed

larvae, also eat the pollen. Bees are guided by sight and

smell See yellow and blue colors,

also ultraviolet light (not red) Flowers have

“honey guides” and bee landing platforms..

Osmia spp. Megachile spp.

Nomia spp.

Andrena spp.Xylocopa spp.

Non- social bees

HONEY BEES AS POLLINATORS According to estimates the value of additional yields

obtained by pollination service rendered by honey bees is 15-20 times more than the value of all hive products put together.

The value of bee pollination in Western Europe is estimated to be 30-50 times the value of honey and wax production in the region.

It is being increasingly realized that bees could be less expensive input for promoting sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture and enhancing crop productivity.

Honey Bees play vital role in sustaining plant bio-diversity with environmental stability.

Crops/flowers are essentially required for development of honey bees. In present Indian agricultural scenario honey bees should be treated as input for over all development for agriculture.

TAXONOMY OF HONEY BEE

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hymenoptera Family: Apidae Subfamily: Apinae

Honey beesApis spp. Non-Apis spp.

Apis floreaApis dorsata

Apis mellifera

Apis cerana

Melipona sp.

Bombus sp.

BEES Bumble bees are

excellent pollinators, especially of berry species. While bumble bees are generalist foragers that visit a diversity of flowers, a few groups of flowers, such as willows and lupines, are particularly important to them.

Sweat bee is the common name for bees in the Halictidae family, and they are named for their attraction to the salts in human perspiration. Most sweat bees are small to medium in size, 1/8 to 3/8 of an inch long. They are generally black or metallic, and some are brilliant green or brassy yellow

WASPS These species are beneficial to humans for pest

control and some pollination. In addition, thousands of small wasp species are parasites of other insect pests, particularly aphids and caterpillars. Without parasitic wasps, pests would overtake most crops. Yellow jackets can be both beneficial and problematic wasps. They are important predators and scavengers, helping to control pests and recycle organic materials, but can also be a threat to humans due to their ability to sting repeatedly in defense of their nests. Yellow jackets are relatively short and stout, holding their legs close to their body compared with other wasps. Paper wasps, for example, are more slender and have long, dangling legs. All yellow jackets are striped either black and white or black and yellow.

SYRPHID FLIES Syrphid flies, also known as hover flies

for their ability to hover in flight, are common predators of aphids and other soft bodied insects. Because Syrphid flies feed on pollen, nectar, and aphid honeydew, they can also act as pollinators. They mimic the appearance of bees or wasps as a protective strategy. There are multiple species of Syrphid flies.

BUTTERFLIES Butterflies,as well as moths , can serve

as pollinators . There are approximately 170 species of butterflies in Oregon that are found at sea level, on mountaintops, and everywhere in between. Some range throughout North America or even other continents. Others, like the Oregon swallowtail, are unique to the Pacific Northwest.

WEED KILLERS TANSY RAGWORTBiannual or short-lived perennial with a

short tap root. Stems up to 6 feet.Recommended Insects:

Cinnabar moth. Very effective

CANADA THISTLEPerennial thistle with horizontal and

vertical roots and a stem 1 to 4 feet tall. The flowers are purple fading to white; often forms thick patches.

Recommended Insect: Canada thistle stem weevil. Somewhat effective. 

PARTHENIUMParthenium hysterophorus is a species

of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae. It is native to the American tropics. Common names include Santa-Maria, Santa Maria feverfew, white top weed, famine weed, and congress weed. In India, it is locally known as carrot grass, congress grass ,Gajar Ghans.

Recommended insect 1.Zygogramma bicolorata

Water hyacinth is a free floating perennial aquatic plant (or hydrophyte) native to tropical and sub-tropical South America. With broad, thick, glossy, ovate leaves, water hyacinth may rise above the surface of the water as much as 1 meter in height. Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as (common) water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often considered a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range.

Recommended insect 1.Neochetina bruchi, N. eichhorniae

WHAT ARE DECOMPOSERS? Vital components of the nutrient cycle An organism, often a bacterium or

fungus, insects,that feeds on and breaks down dead plant or animal matter, thus making organic nutrients available to the ecosystem.

SCAVENGERS  Animals that find dead animals or plants and eat them

help break down or reduce organic material into smaller pieces

Examples: Flies Wasps  Cockroaches  Earthworms(only break down plants)

SCAVENGERS (INSECTS) Insects which feed on dead and decaying

matter of plants and animals are called as scavengers. Insects (scavengers and decomposers) help in the biochemical cycling of the nutrients. Examples: Bark beetle, water scavenger beetle, Termites, Ants etc.

Among the well-known insect decomposers are termites (Isoptera) and cockroaches (Blattodea). The termites possess symbiotic bacteria and protozoa, and in their absence wood cannot be assimilated by these insects. In many ecosystems millipedes (Diplopoda) have special importance as decomposers

http://www.britannica.com/animal/bark-beetle