Foraging behaviour of three insect pollinators of Jatropha curcas in Samaru - Zaria, Nigeria

Insects visit flowers for several reasons, the predominant reason being for food. Jatropha curcas is a flowering plant that attracts different insect visitors for pollination. Three insect pollinators, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Chrysomya chloropyga (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Eristalis tenax (Diptera: Syrphidae) were observed on J. curcas in Samaru – Zaria, Northwestern Nigeria. It was observed that the population of C. chloropyga was higher than A. mellifera and E. tenax. The foraging number of the three species reached the peak in the third week of observation, a period coinciding with the floral boom of J. curcas in the locality. The foraging number of A. mellifera (3.09±1.3) was high in the morning hours, C. chloropyga (13.66±3.95) in the afternoon while E. tenax was active in the morning (1.23±0.56) and afternoon (1.83±0.7). A. mellifera spent less time (10.9±0.60 s) on Jatropha inflorescence than C. chloropyga (10.2±0.69 s) and E. tenax (6.9±0.69 s). Jatropha farmers in the study locality could benefit from domestication of A. mellifera for honey production in addition to its importance as Jatropha pollinator.