VATIS UPDATE Article

Scientists at the Central University of Kerala (CUK), India, have investigated why pumpkin pollinators were failing. Pumpkin plants produce separate male and female flowers. Watching pollinators visit 128 female and 112 flowers across 18 pumpkin patches, the team found that honey bees – the main pollinators of pumpkin here – visited female flowers more than they did male ones.

“That’s because female flowers produce a better quantity and quality of nectar,” Sinu P. A., at CUK. To check if the presence of ants deter bees, disrupting pollination and in turn fruit set, the team identified 76 mature female flower buds and covered them with nylon mesh bags to exclude crazy ants. When the flowers bloomed the next day, the scientists removed the bags to permit bees to visit these ‘ant-less’ flowers for 15 minutes.

They then re-bagged the flowers to prevent ants from getting to them and observed these flowers, found that three-quarters of them set fruit. The team also quantified bee-visits on 80 ant-infested flowers. Such flowers received lesser bee visits and the ants even killed a few bees that landed on them. None of these flowers set fruit.