Diversity, Abundance and Foraging Behaviour of Insect Pollinators on Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.)

This experiment aimed to assess the diversity, relative abundance and foraging activity of insect pollinators in mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) during kharif 2022 at the College of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Station, Jodhpur. Ten species of insect pollinators from six families across two insect orders were recorded. African migrant (Catopsilia spp.) was the most dominant species, with a relative abundance of 48.31%, followed by pea blue butterfly (Lampides boeticus L.) at 32.86%. The least frequent pollinators were Oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis L.) (0.72%) followed by black digger wasp (Sphex argentatus F.) (0.80%). Peak foraging activity occurred between 11:00 A.M. and 13:00 P.M. for hymenopterans and between 10:00 A.M. and 13:00 P.M. for lepidopterans. The giant rock bee (Apis dorsata F.) spent the most of the time per flower (0.73 seconds), while danaid egg fly (Hypolimnas bolina L.) spent the least (0.08 seconds). Weather conditions were observed to influence the abundance of insect pollinators.