Diversity and floral preferences of solitary bees occurring in agroecosystems of Tamil Nadu

Solitary bees are excellent ecosystem servants for efficient pollination in angiosperms. The present study on these was carried out at the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai campus through surveys carried out in various zones. Species diversity, richness, evenness and floral preference were explored for the variations in the zones. The results revealed that the variation is depending upon the nature of the locations included in these agroclimatic zones. The foraging activity of sonicating native bees was predominant on the plants belonging to the in families like Fabaceae, Pedaliaceae, Bignoniaceae, Asteraceae followed by Verbenaceae, Solanaceae, Malvaceae and Cucurbitaceae. Comparatively less preference could be observed on Apocynaceae, Punicaceae and Polygonaceae as regards cultivated and uncultivated crops. Mostly the bees preferred floral colour like purple and yellow followed by white for both nectar as well as pollen collection, whereas the least preference was for pink.