COMPARISON OF NESTING MATERIALS FOR THE ORCHARD POLLINATOR OSMIA-CORNUTA (HYMENOPTERA, MEGACHILIDAE)

Authors
Citation
J. Bosch, COMPARISON OF NESTING MATERIALS FOR THE ORCHARD POLLINATOR OSMIA-CORNUTA (HYMENOPTERA, MEGACHILIDAE), Entomologia generalis, 19(4), 1995, pp. 285-289
Citations number
NO
Categorie Soggetti
Entomology
Journal title
ISSN journal
01718177
Volume
19
Issue
4
Year of publication
1995
Pages
285 - 289
Database
ISI
SICI code
0171-8177(1995)19:4<285:CONMFT>2.0.ZU;2-W
Abstract
A population of the orchard pollinator Osmia cornuta (Latreille 1805) was released in an almond orchard in NE' Spain to test the attractiven ess of 4 different man-made nesting materials. Wood blocks are found m ost attractive, followed by grooved boards, reed sections, and milk-ca rton nesting units. Bamboo reeds are much more attractive than Phragmi tes or Arundo reeds. No significant differences in the number of cells built per nest or in mortality rates are found between nesting materi als. On the other hand, the sex ratio (MM/FF)) of progeny differs betw een nesting materials, and tends to be higher in the least attractive ones. The highest cell production and female cell production is obtain ed in wood blocks, and therefore, these are considered the most suitab le nesting materials for pollination operations with O. cornuta.