Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T18:52:57.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dynamics of cocoa pollination: tools and applications for surveying and monitoring cocoa pollinators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2009

E.A. Frimpong ,
I. Gordon ,
P.K. Kwapong  and
B. Gemmill-Herren
E.A. Frimpong*
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Wildlife, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
I. Gordon
Affiliation:
icipe – African Insect Science for Food and Health, PO Box 30772-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
P.K. Kwapong
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology and Wildlife, School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
B. Gemmill-Herren
Affiliation:
AGPS – FAO, Viale Terme di Caracalla, Rome, Italy
*
*E-mail: nanakofy@yahoo.com
Get access

Abstract

Pollinators are important natural agents for fruit and seed formation in most tree crops and the use of appropriate sampling methods is fundamental in studying their population. A study to develop surveying and monitoring protocols for cocoa pollinators was undertaken in Ghana. Yellow, white and blue UV-bright painted pan traps (UVPPT), McPhail traps and motorized aspirators were used to sample pollinators of cocoa for 13 successive months, after 6 days assessment of the effectiveness of the traps and diurnal active period of the pollinators. The peak pollinating period of cocoa by ceratopogonid midges was between 07.00 and 12.00 h, as previously reported. All three methods were effective in sampling ceratopogonid midges with the UVPPT being the most efficient in terms of sampling effort. The number of ceratopogonid midges caught by the yellow-UVPPT was significantly higher than that by blue- and white-UVPPT. The diversity of midges caught could not be determined due to taxonomic difficulties, and thus all the three colours of UVPPT should be used until efficiency in terms of diversity is determined. It is reported here that the meliponine bee Liotrigona parvula Darchen visits cocoa flowers and thus their effectiveness in cocoa pollination should be investigated.

Keywords

cocoapollinationpollinatorUVPPTMcPhail trapsuction pumpceratopogonidmidgesMeliponinae
Type
Research Paper
Information
International Journal of Tropical Insect Science , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 62 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © ICIPE 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Afreh-Nuamah, K. (1999) Insect Pests of Tree Crops in Ghana: Identification, Damage and Control Measures. Buck Press Ltd, Accra. 65 pp.Google Scholar
Billes, D. J. (1941) Pollination of Theobroma cacao L. in Trinidad. Tropical Agriculture 17 (8), 151.Google Scholar
Brew, A. H. (1985) Studies of cocoa pollination in Ghana. Proceedings of 9th International Cocoa Research Conference, Lome, Togo. Cocoa Producers Alliance, Lagos. pp. 567–571.Google Scholar
Brew, A. H. (1988) The effect of colours and specific features of floral parts on the pollination of cocoa by ceratopogonid midges in Ghana. Proceedings of the 10th International Cocoa Research Conference, 1987, Santa Domingo. Cocoa Producers Alliance, Lagos. pp. 307–310.Google Scholar
Cope, F. W. (1939) Agents of Pollination in Cacao. 9th Annual Report. Cacao Research Institute, Trinidad.Google Scholar
Frankie, G. W., Vinson, S. B., Thorp, R. W., Rizzardi, M. A., Tomkins, M. and Newstrom-Lloyd, I. E. (2002) Monitoring an essential tool in bee ecology and conservation, pp. 187–198. In Pollinating Bees: The Conservation Link Between Agriculture and Nature. Proceedings of the Workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators in Agriculture, with Emphasis on Bees, 1998, Sao Paulo, Brazil (edited by Kevan, P. G. and Imperatriz-Fonseca, V. L.). Ministry of Environment, Secretariat for Biodiversity and Forests.Google Scholar
Gomez, K. A. and Gomez, A. A. (1984) Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research, 2nd edn. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York. 680 pp.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, T. (1973) Preliminary observations on a cecidomyiid midge and its role as a cocoa pollinator in Ghana. Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science 6, 193–198.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, T. (1974 a) Ecology and behaviour of cocoa pollinating Ceratopogonidae in Ghana, West Africa. Environmental Entomology 4, 347–351.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, T. (1974 b) Behavioural biology of a cocoa pollinator, Forcipormyia inornatipennis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in Ghana. Journal of Kansas Entomological Society 47, 541–548.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, T. (1975) Pollinators of Theobroma cacao in Ghana. Proceedings of 4th Conference of West African Cocoa Entomologists, 1974, Accra (edited by Kumar, R.). Universities Press, Accra. pp. 77–81.Google Scholar
McGregor, S. E. (1976) Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crop Plants. US Department of Agriculture Handbook, Washington, DC. 411 pp.Google Scholar
Murray, D. (1975) The botany of cocoa, pp. 7–18. In Cocoa (edited by Wood, G. A. R.). Longman, London.Google Scholar
Padi, B. and Owusu, G. K. (1998) Towards an integrated pest management for sustainable cocoa production in Ghana. Proceedings of the First International Sustainable Cocoa Workshop, March, Panama City.Google Scholar
Posnette, A. F. (1944) Pollination of cacao in Trinidad. Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad) 21, 115–118.Google Scholar
Potts, S. G. (2005) Plant interface–pollinator interface, pp. 329–394. In Practical Pollination Biology (edited by Dafni, A., Kevan, P. G. and Husband, B. C.). Enviroquest Ltd, Ontario.Google Scholar
Potts, S. G., Nuttman, C., Kwapong, P. K., Combey, R. and Willmer, P. (2006) A Standardized Method for Assessing Pollinator Biodiversity in Tropical Forests and Agro-ecosystems. A report to the British Ecological Society. 13 pp.Google Scholar
Saunders, L. G. (1959) Methods for studying Forcipomyia midges, with special reference to cacao-pollinating species (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 37, 33–51.Google Scholar
Scudder, G. G. E. and Cannings, R. A. (2006) Diptera families of British Columbia. http://ditera.info/download (accessed 4 March 2007).Google Scholar
Swanson, J. D., Carlson, J. E. and Guiltinan, M. J. (2005) The development of Theobroma cacao flowers: A multi-level comparison to arabidopsis: Summary of a PhD thesis. Ingenic Newsletter 10, 10–13.Google Scholar
Winder, J. A. and Silva, P. (1972) Cacao pollination: Microdiptera of cacao plantations and some of their breeding places. Bulletin of Entomological Research 61, 651–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, A. M. (1981) The ineffectiveness of the stingless bees Trigona jatty (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae) as a pollinator of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.). Journal of Applied Ecology 18, 140–155.Google Scholar
Young, A. M. (1982 a) Effects of shade cover and availability of midge breeding sites on pollinating midge populations and fruit set in two cocoa farms. Journal of Applied Ecology 19, 47–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, A. M. (1982 b) Population Biology of Tropical Insects. Plenum Press, New York. 511 pp.Google Scholar
Young, A. M. (1985) Research on the natural pollination of cocoa in Central America: Overview of current directions. In Proceedings of the 9th International Cocoa Research Conference, 1984, Lome. Cocoa Producers Alliance, Lagos. pp. 557–565.Google Scholar
Young, A. M., Schaller, M. and Strand, M. (1984) Floral nectaries and trichomes in relation to pollination in some species of Theobroma and Herrania (Sterculiaceae). American Journal of Botany 4, 466–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, A. M., Erickson, B. J. and Erickson, E. H. Jr (1988) Steam distilled floral oils of Theobroma sp. (Sterculiaceae) as attractants to flying insects during dry and wet seasons in a Costa Rican cocoa plantation. Proceedings of the 10th International Cocoa Research Conference, 1987, Santa Domingo. Cocoa Producers Alliance, Lagos. pp. 289–296.Google Scholar
Zahradnik, J. (1999) Insects. Blitz Editions, Leicester. 319 pp.Google Scholar