Determination of Some Morphological Characters of Bombus terrestris L. Workers and Effect of Morphological Traits on Pollen Load

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This study was conducted to determine some morphological traits of Bombus terrestris workers which is the most widely reared species. The correlation both between morphological traits and between pollen load and morphological traits of workers was also investigated. In the first stage of the study, some morphological traits which may affect the collection and transporting of pollen such as weight, tongue length, forewing width, forewing length, forewing index, femur length, tibia length, metatarsus width, metatarsus length, hind leg length and metatarsal index for 100 workers were determined. The worker weight and tongue length were determined as 0.222 ± 0.005 gram and 8.080 ± 0.114 millimeters, respectively. In the second stage, stated morphological traits were determined for 50 workers with pollen load caught in front of the colonies in the field. According to results, significant variation was determined in terms of the morphological traits of B. terrestris workers. However, a significant correlation was calculated for only pollen load and tongue length. No significant strong effect of other morphological traits on pollen load transported by workers was determined.

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Bombus terrestris , morphological traits , pollination performance , pollen load

Journal Of The Faculty Of Agriculture, Suleyman Demirel University

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Journal Of The Faculty Of Agriculture, Suleyman Demirel University