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VOL. 10, ISSUE 3 (2025)
Foraging activity, diversity and abundance of bees on Ricinus Communis (castor plant) at Abu Road, Sirohi, Rajasthan
Authors
Mahendra Devanda, Santosh Kumar Charan
Abstract
The Ricinus communis, commonly known as
the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a perennial flowering shrub belonging
to the family, Euphorbiaceae. The foraging activity, diversity and Abundance of
bees was estimated from the flowering season in month of august and september
from 2021 to 2024. A total of 10 bee species (Order Hymenoptera, Superfamily-
Apoidea) viz. Amegilla zonata, Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, Apis
florea, Ceratina binghami, Tetragonula iridipennis, Xylocopa fenestrata,
Pseudapis oxybeloides, Megachile lanata, and Nomia iridescens) were
documented on castor bean plant. It was observed that Apis florea was
the most abundant (10.42 bees/m2/ 5 minutes) visitor while Pseudapis
oxybeloides was the least abundant (0.32 bees/ m2/ 5 minutes). The foraging
speed was highest observed in the morning between 8.00 am to 10 am. It was
observed that A. florea spent the maximum average time (9.44 sec.) and N.
iridescens the least average time (0.565) on the flowers. The Average times
spent on the flower by bees were highest in the morning (4.876 in sec at 8-10
AM) and decreased throughout the day (2.702 at 2-4 PM). The ANOVA test results
was F-statistic 0.871 and P-value= 0.4648. The p-value is greater than 0.05;
there is no statistical significance in bee abundance across the different time
intervals. The current study will be significance to understand pollinator’s diversity,
abundance and foraging activity on study plant.
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Pages:111-115
How to cite this article:
Mahendra Devanda, Santosh Kumar Charan "Foraging activity, diversity and abundance of bees on <i>Ricinus Communis</i> (castor plant) at Abu Road, Sirohi, Rajasthan". International Journal of Zoology Studies, Vol 10, Issue 3, 2025, Pages 111-115
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