Did you know that pumpkins, as an entomophilous crop, rely on insect pollination and are typically pollinated by a variety of bee species? All cultivated pumpkins (Cucurbita pecies) have separate male and female ( = unisexual) flowers, requiring pollinators to transfer pollen for fruit set. Pumpkin flowers provide abundant pollen and nectar resources to attract …
On a wonderfully sunny morning in early May, looking for a suitable location for my PhD fieldwork, I discovered a flower patch near the ocean where the wonderful ‘triumvirate’ of Glebionis segetum, Silene uniflora, and Lotus creticus lured a wide range of pollinators. While recording the bumblebees foraging on the Lotus, I tried to ‘catch’ …
I was happy to present our research, entitled ‘Flower visitation through the lens: exploring bumblebees’ behaviour with computer vision-based application‘, at the XII European Congress of Entomology (ECE2023) which was held in Heraklion, Crete, on 16-20 October 2023. In addition to numerous thought-provoking oral presentations and posters, the congress provided a good starting point for potential …
Have a read of my book review about an essential and inspiring book, entitled Promoting pollination and pollinators in farming (2023) edited by Peter Kevan and D. Susan Willis Chan, published in Community Ecology (Springer Nature). To give you a little teaser, here is a snippet from my review: “The primary strength of this book lies …
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Morning time on a pleasant temperature summer day, I was watching the cloud of buzzing insects around flowering coffee trees (Coffea sp.) while others were harvesting grapes beside me. Like so many times before, I tried to count how many different insect taxa I could identify around the flowers. I did not have to work …