Temporal Abundance of Different Floral Visitors on Egyptian Clover (Trifolium Alexandrinum L.) and Correlation with Weather Parameters

The temporal abundance of different floral visitors on Egyptian clover, Trifolium alexandrinum l. and correlation with weather parameters was studied at Forage Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar during 2012 and 2013. The mean temporal abundance of A. dorsata was the maximum (4.90/m²/5 min.) followed by A. mellifera (2.69), H. armigera (2.24), Eristalinus spp. (1.59) and A. florea (1.20/m²/5 min.) during 2012. During 2013, A. dorsata abundance decreased to and it 3.08/m²/5 min. followed by A. mellifera (2.61), P. brassicae (2.03), Eristalinus spp. (1.91), Coccinella septempunctata (1.63) and A. florea (1.62/m²/5 min.). A. cerana abundance during 2012 was 0.30/m²/5 min. but became almost negligible (0.06) in 2013. Floral visitor's abundance was maximum at 1400 h (2.97/m²/5 min.) followed by at 1200 noon (2.66) and 1600 h (2.50) and least during the morning hours of 0600 (0.09) and 0800 h (0.42/m²/5 minutes). Abundance of A. mellifera and A. dorsata during 2012 had a highly significant positive correlation with wind speed (r=0.77 and 0.86) at 0800 h while the later was also correlated with maximum (negative) and minimum relative humidity at 1800 h (r=-0.89 and 0.85, respectively).