FLOWER-VISITING INSECTS ON Bactris gasipaes Kunth (ARECACEAE) IN PANAMA

Abstract

Background. Floral visitor insects constitute part of the diversity of arthropods associated with flowers of angiosperm plants such as palms of the Arecaceae family, specifically Bactris gasipaes Kunth, known in Panama as pifá. Objective. Identify flower-visiting insects on inflorescences of B. gasipaes in Panama. Methodology. The study was carried out from March to June 2022, where 10 plots of one hectare were selected with at least 10 adult pifá plants, within which two palms were selected to sample an inflorescence in each plant, at six hours after the inflorescence opening. For sampling, a dried bamboo stalk and a transparent plastic bag were used to capture the insects in the inflorescence. The captured insects were preserved in a plastic container with 70% alcohol and were taken to laboratory conditions for their identification and to estimate the capture percentage of the relevant species. Results. The capture of 721,899 insect specimens was reported, of which 99.95% (721,563) of the specimens belonged to seven species of flower-visiting insects and 0.05% (336) corresponded to the phytophagous species known as the pifá fruit weevil Palmelampius heinrichi O´Brien. Implications. This implies the importance of identifying and separating floral-visiting insects from pest insects. Conclusions. The taxonomic groups of floral visitors in pifá constantly captured in the present study represent more than 99.95%, compared to a low percentage (0.05%) of insect pests that corresponded to the pifá fruit weevil, Palmelampius heinrichi.