Importance of insects in watermelon production (<em>Citrullus lanatus</em> Thunb.) - Cucurbitaceae

Abstract

The present experiment was carried out at Faculdade de Agronomia Dr. Francisco Maeda, Brazil to study the frequency, the type (nectar and/or pollen) of collection, the behaviour of insects on watermelon flowers (Citrullus lanatus) and its effect on quantitative and qualitative fruit production. The most frequent insects on watermelon flowers were ants - Formicidae (37.2%), followed by stingless bees Melipona sp. (32.0%) and Trigona sp. (9.0%), flies - Diptera (9.0%), beetles - Coleoptera (7.7%) and butterflies - Lepidoptera (5.1%). However, the stingless bees Melipona sp. were 53.2% of the visitors to watermelon male flowers. Africanized honey bees were not observed in watermelon flowers. After 4 p.m. no insect was observed in the flowers. Flowers not visited by insects did not produce fruit, in the covered area. It was observed that 64.3% of the fruits presented irregular spherical shape. Dryness and pollinators absence may explain these data, once no fruit production occurred without insect visits.