Anthophora plumipes (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae) as a pollinator of broad bean (Vicia faba major)

摘要

The solitary bee, A. plumipes, was observed to visit flowers of autumn-sown broad beans [faba beans] positively and in greater numbers than Bombus hortorum, B. pascuorum or Apis mellifera at a plot in Cambridgeshire, UK. There were also more flowersvisited per minute by each Anthophora plumipes bee (13.8 flowers) than by each B. pascuorum bee (9.2 flowers). These findings suggest that solitary bees may be of greater economic importance than previously supposed.