Diversity of Floricultural Insects and their impact on the Productivity of Cucurbita Maxima Dusch (Cucurbitaceae) in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of Cameroon
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/jcp.2511Keywords:
Cucurbita Maxima, Productivity, Pollination, Food Security, Sudano-SahelianAbstract
Purpose: This study aims to assess the biodiversity of Cucurbita maxima pollinators with a view to optimising the expected results, in a context of efficient and sustainable agriculture in Cameroon.
Methodology: In Vogzom (North), and in Torok (Far North) in 2022, Cucurbita maxima flowers (Cucurbitaceae) were observed in order to evaluate agronomic parameters, identify the floricultural entomofauna and the pollinating activity of Apidae. For the characterization of the floricultural entomofauna in Vogzom and Torok, five treatments of 30 female flowers each were established according to whether they were protected from visits by Apis mellifera (T0) or benefited from one visit (T2), two (T3), three visits (T4) each or were free (T1). A recognition code was assigned to each visiting species of Cucurbita maxima flowers and a few individuals of each species were captured and retained for later identification. The data collected was codified and encoded in the Excel spreadsheet of the Microsoft Office 2019 program. The normality test of the different variables was done by the Shapiro-Wilk test at the 5% significance level. The Tukey test was used for the comparison of means when the p-value was ˃ 5% and otherwise, the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used.
Finding: The floricultural entomofauna associated with pumpkin consists of five species in Vogzom and fourteen species in Torok. Apidae (82.06%) were in the majority; represented by Apis mellifera (82.06%) in Vogzom. Similarly in Torok, Apidae (77.55%) were in the majority, represented by Apis mellifera with a relative abundance of 40.5%. The daily activity of the Apidae was effective between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. with a morning peak of activity (6 a.m. to 7 a.m.) in both sites. Floral visits to collect nectar (74%) were more important than those devoted to pollen (26%) in A. mellifera. In Vogzom as well as in Torok. The fruiting and mature fruit rates as well as their average mass vary according to the number of successful insect visits by the female flowers.
Contributions to theory, policy and practice: Overall, the fruit and seed production of Cucurbita maxima is closely dependent on the pollinating activity of the Apidae; without it, no fruit or seed is formed, as the pumpkin is neither parthenocarpic nor apomictic. Obtaining optimal pumpkin yields is conditioned by the conservation and protection of pollinator biodiversity.
Downloads
References
Azo'o E.M., 2014. Diversity of Antophilic Insects and Impact of Their Activity on the Yields of Cucumeropsis mannii Naud., Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mansf. (Cucurbitaceae) and Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench. (Malvaceae) in Cameroon. Ph.D. thesis, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 204 p.
Azo'o E.M., Tchuenguem F.F.N. & Messi J., 2017. Biological diversity of the entomofauna associated with Citrullus lanatus (Cucurbitaceae) flowers and assessment of its impact on yields. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 5 (5): 810-81.
Azo'o E.M. & Messi J., 2012. Yield responses of Cucumeropsis mannii (Cucurbitaceae) to the presence or the absence of the insect foraging activity at Nkolbisson in Cameroon. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 13 (3): 1791-1799.
Azo'o Ela Michelson, Albert Tchopwe Menkamla, Hebri Sanda, Cathérine
Firita Wada, Aïne Bidiki Bouba, Njoya Moses Tita Mogho, Tchobsala, Fernand Nestor Tchuenguem Fohouo, 2021. -Impact of floral activities of bee species (Hymenoptera : Apidae) on seed yield and germinability of Calotropis procera (Asclepiadaceae) in northern Cameroon Belgian Journal of Entomology, 121: 1–24.
Bomfim I, Souza de Aragão F, Walters S (2016) Pollination in cucurbit crops. In: Cucurbitaceae: history, nomenclature, taxonomy and reproductive growth. pp 181–200.
Canto-Aguilar A. & Parra-Tabla V., 2000. Importance of conserving alternative pollinators: assessing the pollination efficiency of the squash bee, Peponapis limitaris in Cucurbita moschata (Cucurbitaceae). Journal of Insect Conservation, 4: 203-210.
Calin M., Ambarus S., Critea T.O., Falticeanu M., Stoian L., Popa C.M. & Dumbrava M.M., 2008. The utilization of honey bees for the production of seed of cucumber cornichon type. Proceedings of IXth Eucarpia meeting on genetics and breeding of Cucurbitaceae. Pitrat (ed.), Avignon, pp. 21-24.
Cordova S., 1990. Pollination of watermelon by honey bees. MS thesis, University of Delaware, Delaware, 61 p.
Djonwangwé D., Tchuenguem F.F.N., Messi J. & Brückner D., 2011. Foraging and pollination activities of Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on Ximenia americana (Olacaceae) flowers at Ngaoundéré (Cameroon). International Research Journal of Plant Sciences, 2(6): 170-178.
FAO, 2005. Protecting pollinators. Department of Agriculture, Biosecurity, Nutrition and Consumer Protection. Vialle delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, 21 p.
Faegri K. & Pijl L.V.D., 1979. The principle of pollination ecology. 3rd revised edition, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 244 p.
Free J.B., 1993. Insect pollination of crops. Academic Press, London, 152 p.
Fretwell S. D. & Lucas H. L. 1970. On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds. Acta Biotheoretica, 19: 16 – 36.
Guerriat H., 1996. Be efficient in beekeeping. Guerriat (Eds.), Daussois, 416 p. Handbook 496, New-York, 411 p.
Gingrass D., Gingrass J. & Olivera D., (1999). Visits of honeybees (Hymenoptera: Apidea) and their effects on Cucumber yields in the field. Journal of Economic Entomology, 92: 435-438.
Haubruge E., Nguyen B.K., Widart J., Thomé J.P., Fickers P. & Depauw E., 2006. The dieback of the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., 1758 (Hymenoptera: Apidae): probable facts and causes. Notes fauniques de Gembloux, 59 (1): 3-21.
Jean-Prost P. 1987. Beekeeping : Knowing the Bee - Driving the Apiary (6th ed.), Lavoisier: Paris; Article 579.
Jacob-Remacle A. 1989. Foraging behaviour of honey bees and wild bees in apple orchards in Belgium. Apidology, 20(4): 271-285.
Klein A.M., Vaissière B.E., Cane J., Steffan-Dewenter I., Cunningham S., Kremen C. & Tscharntke T., 2007. Importance of pollinators in changing landscape for world crop. Proceeding of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274: 303-3013.
Knapp JL, Shaw R., Osborne JL (2019). Pollinator visitation to mass-flowering courgette and co-flowering wild flowers: implications for pollination and pollinator conservation. Basic and Applied Ecology.
Messi J. & Tchuenguem F.F.N., 1994. Dacryodes edulis-insects relationship in Yaoundé (Cameroon): diversity of the plant's entomofauna. In: Kengue and Nya Ngatchou (eds.), Le safoutier, Actes du séminaire sur la valorisation du safoutier, Douala, pp.153–160.
Njoroge G.N., Gemmill B., Bussman R., Newton L.E. & Ngumi V.W., 2004. Pollinationecology of Citrullus lanatus at Yatta, Kenya. International Journal of Tropical Insect Sciences, 24: 73-77.
Nerson H. (2002). Relationships between plant density and fruit and seed production in muskmelon. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sc. 127, pp. 855–859.
Petersen JD, Reiners S, Nault B (2013). Pollination services provided by bees in pumpkin fields supplemented with either Apis mellifera or Bombus impatiens or not supplemented. PLOS ONE, 8: 1–8.
Pesson P. & Louveaux J., 1984. Pollination and plant production. P. Pesson & J. Louveaux (Eds.), INRA, Paris, 663 p.
Philippe J.M., 1991. Bee pollination: the establishment of colonies in flowering crops to increase crop yields. EDISUD (Eds.), Aix-en-Provence, 178 p.
Pierre J., 1997. Do honey bees and bumblebees get their supplies optimally? Beekeeping Technical Bulletin, 24(1): 27-32.
Polacchi. W. J.S. McHargue, and B.P. Perloff. 1982. Food composition tables for the Near East. FAO. United Nations. Rome. FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 26
Stanghellini, M.S., Ambrose J.T. & Schultheis FR., 2002. Seed production in watermelon: a comparison between two commercially available pollinators. Horticultural Sciences, 33: 28-30.
Tchuenguem F.F.N., Fameni T.S., Pharaon M.A., Messi J. & Brückner D. 2010b. Foraging behaviour of Apis mellifera adansonii (Hymenoptera: Apoidae) on Daniellia oliveri, Delonix regia, Hymenocardia acida and Terminalia mantaly flowers in Ngaoundéré (Cameroon). International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences, 4 (4): 1180-1190.
Tchuenguem F.F.N., 2005. Foraging and pollination activity of Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Apinae) on the flowers of three plants in Ngaoundéré (Cameroon): Callistemon rigidus (Myrtaceae), Syzygium guineense var. macrocarpum (Myrtaceae) and Voacanga africana (Apocynaceae). State Doctoral Thesis, University of Yaoundé I, 100 p.
Tchuenguem F.F.N., Djonwangwe D., Messi J. & Brückner D., 2009a. Foraging and pollination activity of Apis mellifera adansonii on the flowers of Helianthus annus (Asteraceae) flowers in Ngaoundéré (Cameroon). Cameroon Journal of Experimental Biology, 5: 1-9.
Tchuenguem F.F.N., Messi J., Brückner D., Bouba B., Mbofung G. & Hentchoya Hemo J., 2004. Foraging and pollination behaviour of the African honeybee (Apis mellifera adansonii) on Callistemon rigidus flowers at Ngaoundere (Cameroon). Journal of the Cameroon Academy Sciences, 4 (2): 133-140.
Vaissière B.E., 2002. Bees and pollination. Le courrier de la Nature, 196: 24-27.
Vaissière B.E., 1998. Measure pollinator efficiency. Seed Bulletin, 143: 22-23.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Hebri Sanda, Angoni Hyacinthe , Zéphirin Oumarou Haman, Abdouraman, Joseph Messi Effa, Menyene Etoundi Laurent Florent, Tchobsala
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
