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International Journal of Pure & Applied Bioscience (IJPAB)
Year : 2018, Volume : 6, Issue : 5
First page : (848) Last page : (853)
Article doi: : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-6930

Record of Insect Pollinators and their Abundance on Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) in New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal

Rakesh Das* and Shantanu Jha

Department of Agricultural Entomology, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur, Nadia,
Pin- 741252, West Bengal
*Corresponding Author E-mail: rdas6907@gmail.com
Received: 14.09.2018  |  Revised: 22.10.2018   |  Accepted: 29.10.2018  

 ABSTRACT

The diversity and abundance of different insect visitors on Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) were studied at Instructional Farm Jaguli of Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya in Nadia district of West Bengal during 2017 - 2018. A total of 13 insect visitors belonging to order Hymenoptera (comprising of 6 species viz., Apis dorsata, Apis mellifera, Apis cerana indica, Apis florea, Ceratina sp. and Halictus sp.), Diptera (comprising of 5 species viz., Episyrphus sp., Eristalinus tabanoides, Musca domestica, Chrysomya sp. and Sarcophaga sp.) and Lepidoptera (comprising of 2 species viz., Amata bicincta and Pieris sp.) were found to visit the mustard blossoms during the period of study. The abundance (percentage of insect fauna/sq.m/2 min.) of Hymenopterans was maximum followed by the Dipterans and Lepidoptera. Among the Hymenopterans, the Honeybees (Apis spp.) were observed maximum, representing 74.52% of the total pollinators. Among the Honeybees, the Italian bee, A. mellifera (35.18%) was dominant sequentially followed by the Indian bee, A. cerana indica (23.11%), Rock bee, A. dorsata (12.00%) and Little bee, A. florea (4.23%). Considerable number of Dipteran flies also visited the crop (21.25%), of which the Syrphids were most common. 

Key words:  Indian mustard, Insect, Pollinators, Honeybees, Apis

Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782

Cite this article: Das, R. and Jha, S., Record of Insect Pollinators and their Abundance on Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) in New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal, Int. J. Pure App. Biosci.6(5): 848-853 (2018). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.6930