Bee visitation rates to trees of Prockia crucis differing in flower number

Summary

Annual flower production ranged over four orders of magnitude among individuals of the tropical tree Prockia crucis (Flacourtiaceae), but the number of visits per flower by bees did not increase with flower number. In a population in Jalisco, México, the trees flower for about one week each year, offering only pollen to the bees (mostly solitary species). In a small group of trees, the number of visits per flower was less on trees with greater flower production but in a large group visitation did not vary between trees. Pollen flow probably was not directed from large to small trees or vice versa, because the number of flowers per tree did not determine the schedule of visits. The ratio of pollinators to pollen thieves decreased rapidly through the day, while individuals of both groups foraged more rapidly. Most bee species were rare, and only a small subset of medium-sized to large bees were effective pollinators. Large and small groups of trees differed in the relationship between individual flower crop and abundance and diversity of both pollinators and thieves.