Article Sidebar
Published:
Mar 6, 2013Keywords:
Cocoa pollinators insect assemblage Forcipomyia spp pollination system
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
The Journal of Applied Biosciences (JABS) reserves copyright of the material published. When the manuscript is accepted for publication , the authors agree to transfer copyright to the publisher. The Editor must grant permission for use of any published material.
It is unethical to submit an article for publication in different journals, either for simultaneous review or otherwise. Elewa Biosciences will not consider any manuscripts that are being reviewed by other publishers or have been previously published elsewhere.Creative
It is unethical to submit an article for publication in different journals, either for simultaneous review or otherwise. Elewa Biosciences will not consider any manuscripts that are being reviewed by other publishers or have been previously published elsewhere.Creative
Commons License
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, andindicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
Main Article Content
Insect assemblage and the pollination system in cocoa ecosystems
Abstract
Objective: An insect survey was carried out in ten farm plots to determine whether there are other tropical pollinators of cocoa which are either unidentified or undescribed, and hence review the pollination system of the crop.
Methodology and results: Ten homogenous farmer managed farm plots were selected. For three consecutive years, a study was carried out to determine the insect species richness and relative abundance in the farm plots during flowering seasons (April to October). It was also to determine which of the insects were pollinators or contributed to the process of pollination of cocoa. Trees used were selected based on availability of flowers. About 2,721 insects belonging to 36 species and 7 orders were recorded. Insect species of the orders viz: Hymenoptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera were common to all the ten farm plots. These were found on cocoa trees, and on the ground among the cocoa leaf litter. The rest were predominantly aerial or flying insects. The results of focal patch observation indicated that more than half of insect species resident in the cocoa ecosystem did not visit the cocoa flowers. Those which visited did not carry any pollen. Only the ceratopogonid midges (Diptera) showed higher pollinator importance. They were therefore classified as effective pollinators, and hence could be beneficial to the productivity of cocoa. None of the crawling insects ever carried pollen to the stigma. The study showed that the cocoa ecosystem could support diverse insect communities; however, the evolution of the floral structure of cocoa restricts access to all but few pollinators. Cocoa therefore has a specialized pollination system. Conclusion and application: The study showed that though the cocoa ecosystem could support diverse insect communities the cocoa tree itself has a specialized pollination system. The results therefore suggest that cocoa farmers should be encouraged to incorporate pollinator-friendly practices for sustainable cocoa
production.
Key words: Cocoa, pollinators, insect assemblage, Forcipomyia spp, pollination system.
Methodology and results: Ten homogenous farmer managed farm plots were selected. For three consecutive years, a study was carried out to determine the insect species richness and relative abundance in the farm plots during flowering seasons (April to October). It was also to determine which of the insects were pollinators or contributed to the process of pollination of cocoa. Trees used were selected based on availability of flowers. About 2,721 insects belonging to 36 species and 7 orders were recorded. Insect species of the orders viz: Hymenoptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, and Coleoptera were common to all the ten farm plots. These were found on cocoa trees, and on the ground among the cocoa leaf litter. The rest were predominantly aerial or flying insects. The results of focal patch observation indicated that more than half of insect species resident in the cocoa ecosystem did not visit the cocoa flowers. Those which visited did not carry any pollen. Only the ceratopogonid midges (Diptera) showed higher pollinator importance. They were therefore classified as effective pollinators, and hence could be beneficial to the productivity of cocoa. None of the crawling insects ever carried pollen to the stigma. The study showed that the cocoa ecosystem could support diverse insect communities; however, the evolution of the floral structure of cocoa restricts access to all but few pollinators. Cocoa therefore has a specialized pollination system. Conclusion and application: The study showed that though the cocoa ecosystem could support diverse insect communities the cocoa tree itself has a specialized pollination system. The results therefore suggest that cocoa farmers should be encouraged to incorporate pollinator-friendly practices for sustainable cocoa
production.
Key words: Cocoa, pollinators, insect assemblage, Forcipomyia spp, pollination system.
