Determination of Some Morphological Characters of Bombus terrestris L. Workers and Effect of Morphological Traits on Pollen Load

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine some morphological traits of Bombus terrestris workers which is the most widely reared species. The correlation both between morphological traits and between pollen load and morphological traits of workers was also investigated. In the first stage of the study, some morphological traits which may affect the collection and transporting of pollen such as weight, tongue length, forewing width, forewing length, forewing index, femur length, tibia length, metatarsus width, metatarsus length, hind leg length and metatarsal index for 100 workers were determined. The worker weight and tongue length were determined as 0.222 ± 0.005 gram and 8.080 ± 0.114 millimeters, respectively. In the second stage, stated morphological traits were determined for 50 workers with pollen load caught in front of the colonies in the field. According to results, significant variation was determined in terms of the morphological traits of B. terrestris workers. However, a significant correlation was calculated for only pollen load and tongue length. No significant strong effect of other morphological traits on pollen load transported by workers was determined.

Bombus terrestris İşçi Arılarının Bazı Morfolojik Özelliklerinin ve Morfolojik Özelliklerin Polen Yükü Üzerine Etkisinin Belirlenmesi

Abstract

Bu çalışma ile kitlesel olarak en yaygın şekilde yetiştirilen bombus arısı türü olan Bombus terrestris işçi arılarının bazı morfolojik özelliklerinin belirlenmesi ve bu morfolojik özelliklerin hem kendi aralarında hem de işçi arıların yuvaya taşıdığı polen yükü ile ilişkilerin araştırılması amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışmanın ilk aşamasında 100 adet işçi arının polen toplama ve taşıma performansını etkileyebileceği düşünülen ağırlık, dil uzunluğu, ön kanat genişliği, ön kanat uzunluğu, ön kanat indeksi, femur uzunluğu, tibia uzunluğu, metatarsus genişliği, metatarsus uzunluğu, arka bacak uzunluğu ve metatarsus indeksine ilişkin morfolojik özellikleri belirlenmiştir. İşçi arıların ağırlığı ve dil uzunluğu sırasıyla 0,222 ± 0,005 gram ve 8,080 ± 0,114 milimetre olarak belirlenmiştir. İkinci aşamada ise araziye yerleştirilen kolonilerin önünden yakalanan polen yüklü 50 adet işçi arı için belirtilen morfolojik özellikler belirlenmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre B. terrestris işçi arılarının morfolojik özellikleri bakımından önemli varyasyon belirlenmiştir. Ancak polen yükü ile sadece dil uzunluğu arasında önemli korelasyon hesaplanmış, diğer belirlenen morfolojik özelliklerinin işçi arıların taşıdıkları polen yükü üzerine güçlü bir etkisi belirlenmemiştir.

Keywords

• Bombus terrestris,morfolojik özellikler,tozlaşma performansı,polen yükü

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