Species and Diversity Analysis of Flower-visiting Insects of Asian Sacred Lotus in Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei Provinces

[Objective]This study aimed to investigate the community structure, species and quantities of flower-visiting insects of seed lotus in main producing ar-eas of Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces. [Method] Using sample area survey and netting method in the fixed points to investigate species and quantities of Asian sacred lotus, the species diversity of different locations was evaluated by diversity indices （H′）, evenness indices （J） and dominant concentration indices （C）. [Result] Apis mel ifera, Apis cerana cerana, Xylocopa （Koptortosoma） sinensis, Xylocopa （s.str.） valga and Xylocopa （Al oxylocopa） appendiculata, al of which belong to order Hy-menoptera were the main pol inators of lotus. Temperature was the main factor which influenced the foraging behaviors of flower-visiting insects. The daily activities of X. （s.str.） valga and X. （Al oxylocopa） appendiculata were bimodal, and that of A. mel-lifera, A. cerana cerana and X. （s.str.） valga were unimodal. The percentage of wild pol inators in Linxiang of Hunan Province and Xianning of Hubei Province were only 20.59% and 3.90% respectively, and there were six species of flower-visiting insects in Linxiang and three in Xianning. The percentages of wild pol inators in Shicheng of Jiangxi Province and the lotus garden in Huazhong Agricultural University were 55.61% and 90.40% respectively, and the flower-visiting insects belonged to 13 and 12 species respectively. The diversity index （H′） and evenness index （J） were listed here in a decreasing order： Shicheng of Jiangxi ＆gt;lotus garden in Huazhong Agricul-tural University＆gt;Linxiang of Hunan ＆gt;Xianning of Hubei. The sequence of dominant concentration indices （C） was Shicheng of Jiangxi ＆lt;the lotus garden in Huazhong Agricultural University＆lt;Linxiang of Hunan＆lt;Xianning of Hubei. The diversity indices （H′）, evenness indices （J） and dominant concentration indices （C） of each sample location were consistent. [Conclusion] The species and quantities of Asian sacred lotus vary in different ecological areas. The species and quantities of Linxiang in Hunan Province and Xianning in Hubei Province are rare. The increase of lotus production must depend on bee pol ination.

Flower-visiting Habitus of Three Common Syrphids in Farmland of Hanzhong Area in Early Spring

[Objective] The paper was to study the flower-visiting habitus of three common syrphids in farmland of Hanzhong area in early spring.[Method] The active flower-visiting syrphids in farmland of hanzhong area in early spring was investigated,the annual activity rhythm,flower-visiting behavior,characteristics of mouthparts and their flower-visiting adaptability of three common syrphids were studied.[Result] About 20 species of active flower-visiting syrphids were found in farmland of hanzhong area in early spring,Eristalis tenax （Linnaeus,1758）,Episyrphus balteatus （De Geer,1776） and Eristalis cerealis Fabricius,1805 were predominant species in farmland.These three species could be found in farmland of Hanzhong area almost throughout the year,and they mainly activated on the flowers of rape and composites on the ridge of field in early spring.The activities of these flower-visiting syrphids were important to pollination of rape.The syrphid mouthparts had no structural characters in adaptation to flower-visiting,but the mouthparts were shorter,which was adaptive to visit the flowers with open and shallower corolla.[Conclusion] The results provided theoretical basis for further study on flower-visiting habitus and pollination effect of syrphids.

Volatiles from <i>Prunus persica</i>Flowers and Their Correlation with Flower-Visiting Insect Community in Wanbailin Ecological Garden, China

Object: To investigate the VOCs from living Prunus persica flowers of different branches and their correlation with floral insects. Special, dominant and 20 VOCs were analysed from living Prunus persica flowers captured by closely and circularly headspace way in adsorbent tubes and ATD-GC/MS on 29 April in Wanbailin Ecological Garden, China. VOCs from high altitude tree are more than low altitude in sunny site, and floral volatile constituents from upslope branches are less than downslope of the same tree on high altitude. Special floral VOCs were alpha-dimethyl-benzenemethanol, isopropyl palmitate, ethylbenzene, p-xylene, acetophenone, 3-ethyl-2-methyl-Heptane on sunny slope, and propylene glycol, decanal, hexadecane on shady slope. Dominant VOCs founded during 8 temporal quanta were toluene, hexane, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, dodecane, pentadecane. Floral VOCs’ number from sunny slope was significantly negative correlated with flower-visiting insect community richness, abundance, diversity on sunny or shady slope, which from shady slope was significantly positive correlated with flower-visiting insect community parameters on both slopes tried dividing insects visiting floral branches from Prunus persica in sunny site with n/2 + 1 or n/2 - 1, and shady site with n/2 before sampled volatiles day. On sampled volatiles day, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol from sunny slope was significantly positive correlated with flower-visiting insect community parameters on shady slope (P Prunus persica on sunny slope, and even floral branches kept on shady slope.

Study on Pollinating Insects of Astragalus membranaceus (Ficsh) Bunge

[Objective The aim was to study species and pollinating characters of Astragalus membranaceus(Ficsh)Bunge pollinating insects and lay a theory foundation for the breeding of Astragalus membranaceus(Ficsh)Bunge.[Method] With Astragalus membranaceus(Ficsh)Bunge as research object,the species of pollinating insect and pollination behavior were investigated.[Result] There were 16 pollinating insect species,among which,Bombus ignitus,Bombus lucoru,Apis sp.,Betasyrphus serarius(wiedemann)and Colias erate(Esper)we...

Study on Species and Behaviors of Flowervisiting Insects on Mussaenda pubescens

[Objective] This study aimed to understand the species and behaviors of flower-visiting insects on Mussaenda pubescens Ait.f.in the Mount Emei National Nature Reserve.[Method] The species,visiting frequency,visiting time and behaviors of flower-visiting insects on M.pubescens were studied by collection,identification and image capture.[Result] The flower-visiting insects on M.pubescens in the Mount Emei covered total 26 species with 21 species from Lepidoptera,2 species from Hymenoptera,and 3 species from Diptera.Thus,Lepidoptera were the main group of pollinators for c in the Mount Emei National Nature Reserve.The daily activity rhythms of Lepidoptera,Hymenoptera and Diptera showed different characteristics,and they were characterized by single-peak type and double-peak type.[Conclusion] This study will provide certain theoretical basis for studies on the diversity of flower-visiting insects on plants in the Mount Emei National Nature Reserve.

Convergences in the diversification of bats

Twenty-five characters or suites of characters from bats are considered in light of changes in bat classification. Thecharacters include some associated with flower-visiting (two), echolocation (12), roosting (six), reproduction (two) and three areof unknown adaptive function. In both the 1998 and 2006 classifications of bats into suborders (Megachiroptera and Microchiropteraversus Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera, respectively), some convergences between suborders are the same (e.g.,foliage roosting, tent building), but others associated with echolocation differ substantially. In the 1998 phylogeny convergencesassociated with echolocation (high duty cycle echolocation, nasal emission of echolocation calls) occurred among the Microchiroptera.In the 2006 phylogeny, they occur between Yinpterochiroptera and Yangochiroptera. While some traits apparently aroseindependently in two suborders (e.g., foliage-roosting, tent building, low intensity echolocation calls, noseleafs, nasal emission ofecholocation calls, high duty cycle echolocation behaviour), others appear to have been ancestral (roosting in narrow spaces,laryngeal echolocation, stylohyal-tympanic contact, oral emission of echolocation calls, and small litter size). A narrow profilethrough the chest is typical of bats reflecting the thoracic skeleton. This feature suggests that the ancestors of bats spent the day insmall crevices. Features associated with laryngeal echolocation appear to be ancestral, suggesting that echolocation evolved earlyin bats but was subsequently lost in one yinpterochiropteran lineage .

Innate Preferences for Radial Gradient Pattern Cues in the Cotton Bollworm, <i>Helicoverpa armigera</i>

Information is lacking regarding the visual cues used by Helicoverpa armigera moths during nectar feeding. Here, we investigated the preference for radial gradient patterns in H. armigera moths. The results indicated that both sexes shared a preference to plain flower models of blue and cyan. The radial gradient pattern (cyan as nectar guide color and blue as petal color) was more attractive than its component plain colors (cyan or blue), especially in male moths. Number of corolla petals did not influence the attractiveness of the cyan-blue pattern. The addition of a tertiary floral attractant to white-blue or cyan-blue radial gradient patterns could dramatically enhance the attractiveness of visual cues in males rather than females, suggesting that males gave a higher weight in olfactory modality than females gave, while females gave a higher weight in vision modality than males gave. All together, we found an optimal combination of floral cues in H. armigera sexes as follows: A tertiary floral attractant (2 μL dose of phenylacetaldehyde, benzyl acetate, and salicylaldehyde mixed in 26:15:2) added to white-blue radial gradient flower model (3 cm in diameter). To our knowledge, this is the first time that rose curve and radial gradient tools were used to simulate floral pattern in the studies of flower-visiting insects.