23/08/2018

1

Romina Rader

Senior Lecturer

University of New England,

Armidale

Email:rrader@une.edu.au

Twitter: @rominatwi

Stingless bee

abundance and

efficiency in Australian

crop systems

Contributors to our crop pollination work: Bruce

White, Carolyn Sonter, Emma Goodwin, Juan Lobaton,

Bryony Willcox, Liam Kendall, Manu Saunders, Sarah

McDonald, Rob and Raelene Mitchie, Brad Howlett,

Lindsey Kirkland, Mark Hall, Jeremy Jones, Tobias

Smith, Jamie Stavert and Costa Group.

Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops:

1.

2.

3.

Vis1 Vis3 Vis5

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Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops:

1.

Crops Studied Across Australia

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Apple Stanthorpe, QLD 2017

Blueberry Coff’s Harbour, NSW 2016 & 2017

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RaspberryCoff’s Harbour, NSW 2017

Avocado Bundaberg, QLD

r

occinella

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5

Macadamia Bundaberg, QLD

r

occinella

Mango Bundaberg, QLD 2016 & 2017

r

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Mango Mareeba, QLD 2014 & 2016

r

Mango

Katherine, NT 2017

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Watermelon Katherine, NT 2017

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Bundaberg,

QLD

Coff's Harbour,

QLD

Katherine,

NT

Mareeba,

QLD

Stanthorpe,

QLD

Apis cerana �

Apis mellifera � � � � � � �

Braunsapis spp. �

Ceylalictus perditellus �

Homalictus spp � � � � �

Hylaeus spp �

Lasioglossum spp. �

Megachile micerythrura �

Tetragonula spp � � � � � �

Xylocopa spp � �

Unknown Small Native Bees � �

Managed and Wild Bees Found in Our Focal Crops

Pollinators

Plants visited by pollinators

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Blueberry and raspberry Coff’s Harbour, NSW 2016 & 2017

B Icr na

euun

msa

opni is

da

eS Ec xa o

r naeb

uidraa

eCRa h

l oli pah

lo or cid

earae

S Dy ip

r tpeh

ri ada

eX

ylocop

aA

ustr

osyr

phus

Hom

alic

tus

Tetragonula Apis

Raspberry Blueberry

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

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Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

Bra

unsa

pis

Icne

um

onid

ae

Sca

rabid

ae

Exo

ne

ura

Co

ccin

ella

Ha

lmus

Acra

ea

Mir

ida

eP

enta

tom

iida

eP

ieri

sR

ipto

rta

sH

ete

roce

ra

Lucili

aS

apro

myz

a.s

p.B

om

byl

ida

eT

iphiid

ae

Mic

raspis

Le

iodid

ae

Sco

liida

eG

lycyp

ha

na

G

rapto

ste

thus

La

sio

glo

ssum

S

arc

opha

ga

X

ylo

co

pa

H

em

ipte

ra

Sim

osyr

phus

Chry

so

me

lida

e

Austr

osyr

phus

Co

leo

pte

ra

Rho

pa

loce

ra

Me

loid

ae

Apo

cri

taA

po

ide

a

Me

langyn

a

Lyc

idD

ipte

ra

Co

ccin

elli

da

e

Fo

rmic

ida

e

Chry

so

mya

Ho

ma

lictu

s

Ca

nth

ari

da

e

Syr

phid

ae

Ca

llipho

rida

e

Tetr

ago

nula

Apis

Apple

Ma

ngo

Wa

term

elo

n

Ra

spbe

rry

Ma

ca

da

mia

Avo

ca

do

Blu

ebe

rry

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

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Pollinators

Plants visited by pollinators

Site 1 Site 2 Site 3

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

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Avocado 2015 Bundaberg: Visitation only

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

Avocado 2017 Bundaberg: Visitation only

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

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Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops:

1.

2. Vis1 Vis3 Vis5

The number of visits is important!

• Too few visits = crumbly fruit

The number of visits is important!

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Other

2. Pollinator efficiency

Vis1

Stingless bees alone

Fru

it w

eig

ht

Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry

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Honey bees alone

Fru

it w

eig

ht

Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry

Stingless bees alone

We

igh

t

Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production

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Honey bees alone

Fru

it w

eig

ht

Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production

Stingless bee abundance and efficiency in crops:

1.

2.

3.

Vis1 Vis3 Vis5

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Mixed HBs and SBs

Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry

Mixed HBs and SBs

Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production

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Number of Drupelets; (lots is good!)

1-4 Visits 5-9 Visits 10+ Visits

The number of visits is important!

Nu

mb

er

of

dru

pe

lets

Hall et al. (in prep.) Multiple pollinator visits are required for commercial raspberry production

Why is there so much variation? Are mixed visits good?

1. Differences in foraging

behaviour could mean some

visits are good for flower and

others not

2. Differences in foraging

behaviour could mean more

fruit set overall

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Pollen collecting behaviour

Nectar collecting behaviour

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Proportion fruit set after 1-5 visits

Kendall et al. (in prep.) Mixed pollinator visits result in higher fruit weight in blueberry

Conclusions:

1.

2.

3.

Vis1 Vis3 Vis5

General patterns for each

crop do not exist!

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Romina Rader

Senior Lecturer

University of New England,

Armidale

Email:rrader@une.edu.au

Twitter: @rominatwi

Questions?

Contributors to our crop pollination work: Bruce

White, Carolyn Sonter, Emma Goodwin, Juan Lobaton,

Bryony Willcox, Liam Kendall, Manu Saunders, Sarah

McDonald, Rob and Raelene Mitchie, Brad Howlett,

Lindsey Kirkland, Mark Hall, Jeremy Jones, Tobias

Smith, Jamie Stavert and Costa Group.

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops

Vis1

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Species ranked by abundance for each crop, year and region

Willcox et al. (in prep.) Identifying keystone crop pollinators across co-flowering horticultural crops