Prakash Karmakar

Vidyasagar University · Department of Forestry and Botany

The cerumen (sometimes mistaken for propolis or geopropolis) of Indian stingless bees is a mixture of plant latex, resin, bee wax, and other bee secretions. Cerumen of the dammar bees, or resin bees, has not yet received commercial attention due to a lack of information on botanical sources, chemical composition, and health benefits discussed herei...

Nectar robbing is common in angiosperms, especially in long tubular flowers or flowers with spurs that keep nectar out of reach of visitors. However, the robbing behaviour of bees is less understood. Here, we studied the sesame visitors, their robbing behaviour, and the impacts of robbing on plant reproductive fitness. Diverse insect species (prima...

Andrographis paniculata (Brum. f.) Wall. ex Nees is an important medicinal plant of tropical Asia and has been used widely for a long time for different clinical ailments. Despite profuse flowering and a high percentage of fruit set,the number of seedlings in the natural population is the bare minimum. Knowledge regarding the seed ecology and seedl...

Canscora alata (Roth) Wall. (Gentianaceae) commonly known as Shankhapushpi, is an annual herbaceous threatened medicinal plant distributed mainly in the understory of wild Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) forest and demands immediate conservation measures, for which understanding of its reproductive ecology is important. We studied aspects of floral bi...

The reproductive success of flowering plants relates to flower-visitor communities and plant-pollinator interactions. These traits are species- and region-specific and vary across regions, pollinator groups, and plant species. However, little literature exists on the spatiotemporal variation in visitor activity, especially in India. Here, we aimed...

Cashew nuts are highly demandable due to their nutritional value and utility. However, yield is below the optimum level. Several strategies were deployed to overcome its low productivity, like artificial hybridization, hormone treatment and bee management. Here, for the first time, we assessed the impact of vitamin (e.g., folic acid) treatment and...

The Asian honeybee (Apis cerana) occurs across the south, southeast and east Asia. The species is utilised in apicultural practices. But the available documents about their floral resources, especially pollen sources, are limited. However, it is a mandatory requirement in a sustainable honeybee management programme. In the present study, we conducte...

FLOWERS ARE VSITIDE BY LARGE POPULATION OF INSECTS INCLUDING A SINGLE SPECIES OF THYSANOPTERAN INSECTS BELONGING TO PRIESNERIOLA SP. OF THE FAMILY THRIPIDAE

Pollination (i.e., deposition of an adequate amount of viable pollen on the receptive stigma for fertilisation) is essential for most agricultural plants to achieve the desired yield and quality. Crop plants mainly depend on diverse insect pollinators like bees, flies, butterflies, wasps, moths, and beetles for successful pollination. Honeybees and...

Pollinators provide crucial ecosystem services, i.e., pollination, which determines crops’ reproductive fitness and yield. As pollinators decline, flowering crops might face pollina-tion-deficit stress depending on their dependence on pollinators and pollinator availability. Here, we assessed the dependency of some crops (belonging to diverse plant...

Samanta A, Bera B, Karmakar P. 2023. Pollination ecology of an important medicinal plant Hellenia speciosa (J.Koenig) S.R.Dutta of Asiatic tropics. Biodiversitas 24: 3152-3161. Plants often show various floral traits that help them to achieve reproductive fitness. Floral adaptive traits help to maximize the possibility of outcrossing, even for clon...

Hellenia speciosa (J. Koenig) S.D.Dutta, a clonally propagated plant, widely known as crepe ginger, is an important medicinal plant of tropical Asia. It is a rich source of diosgenin- a phytosteroid sapogenin used in the commercial synthesis of progesterone. Despite clonal propagation, the plant produces a substantial number of viable seeds, which...

Stingless bees collect plant latex and resin to produce cerumen and propolis. Cerumen is primarily used for nest construction, such as brood cells, storage pots, and involucrum. Propolis is mainly used as a sealing material and for predator and pathogen defense. Knowledge about the botanical origin of these materials is vital for sustainable bee ma...

Intercropping is practiced in modern intensive agriculture considering many benefits, including additive crop yield. However, it may have competitive or facilitative interactions between pollinator-dependant crops. Here, we investigated the reproductive aspects of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan). We assessed the influence of blooming pigeonpea on pollina...

Flowering plants and pollinators are in a mutualistic association, where pollinators collect floral resources and plants receive pollination services. Bees and other pollinators are declining in many parts of the world, and their loss affects the functional composition of fauna, flora, and habitats. Different strategies are being deployed to improv...

Besides its importance as an ornamental plant, Justicia betonica L. is also used as a medicinal plant for the treatment of several human disorders. However, the population size and abundance of the plant species are very low in Indian states, including West Bengal. The breeding system and pollination ecology of J. betonica are still unclear. Theref...

In view of the ongoing rarity of Ecbolium ligustrinum there is an urgent need for conservation of the species. For this, a detailed work was carried out regarding the untold story of its reproductive ecology. The work was done for three consecutive years (2015–2017) at Midnapore, West Bengal over three different populations collected from three dif...

The yield of many crops benefits from pollinating insects; thus, recently reported declines in pollinator abundance and diversity are concerning for global food production. The pollinator dependency and amount of yield enhancement may vary according to crop species and geographical location. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is an important spice crop cu...

Honey bees and stingless bees are generalist visitors of several wild and cultivated plants. They forage with a high degree of floral fidelity and thereby help in the pollination services of those plants. We hypothesized that pollination efficiency might be influenced by flowering phenology, floral characteristics, and resource collection modes of...

Stingless bees are generalist visitors, forage with a high degree of floral fidelity, and thereby play an important role as pollinators. Management of stingless bees is considered to be an enhancer of crop yield and as well as an eco-friendly strategy to conserve biodiversity. While Tetragonula iridipennis Smith is one of the most common species of...

Stingless bees are generalist visitors, forage with a high degree of floral fidelity, and thereby play an important role as pollinators. Management of stingless bees is considered to be an enhancer of crop yield and as well as an eco-friendly strategy to conserve biodiversity. While Tetragonula iridipennis Smith is one of the most common species of...

Knowledge about floral resources is essential for bee management and conservation. Pollen analysis of honey is the most traditional method for determining the nectar resources of a bee species. However, the collection of honey samples is difficult in cavity-nesting natural stingless bee colonies. Furthermore, it is detrimental to the wild bee’s col...

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is an important crop cultivated in India and other warmer regions of the world. The crop is dependent on insect pollinators for its fruit set. However, information about pollination ecology in Indian states remains undetermined. We used a replicated field-scale experiment to identify the native pollinators and their f...

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that pollinator sharing among cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) and co-blooming magnetic bee-friendly plants facilitate higher productivity of cashew nuts. We examined the reproductive efficacy of cashew in three sites with distinct vegetation pattern (site I: sparsely distributed individuals,...

Thirty-three taxa of angiosperms which were collected from Phawngpui (Blue Mountain) National Park, are reported as new distributional records for the flora of Mizoram, India. Among those taxa, eight genera like Acalypha L., Agrimonia L., Lecanthus Wedd., Pegia Colebr., Richardia L., Stellaria L., Theropogon Maxim. and Veronica L. are recorded firs...

In the present work, bee foraging plants were determined by palynological analysis of colony stored samples (honey and pollen) of Apis dorsata collected from southern West Bengal, India. Then flowering phenology and pollen morphologies were described to evaluate the forage preference of the bee species. In addition, chemical cues were analysed usin...

This study investigated the suitability of honey sample collection methods for determining the botanical origin of honey through palynological analysis. We used three methods to collect honey samples in three different modes viz. extracted honey using a honey extractor, squeezed honey and pipetted honey (collected by micropipette/dropper from honey...

Seed germination is a dynamic process involving imbibition, increased metabolic activity and protrusion of a tiny plantlet rupturing the seed coat. Many genes, phytohormones like ABA and GA have been implicated in germination of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. Although many microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be differentially expressed during seed g...

We studied the floral ecology, floral visitors and breeding system of Citrus × limon in West Bengal, India. We calculated a coefficient of pollination deficit (D) and also estimated the values of 'relative pollinator service (RPS)' to determine primary polli nators of the plant species. The cultivar is fully self-compatible and produces protandric...

The chapter provides information about distribution, nesting biology and floral resources of red dwarf honeybee (Apis florea Fabricius) in West Bengal, India. The bee species showed a selection preference to human habitation for its colony settlement. Its abundance also significantly varied according to seasons. During winter to summer, the bees de...

An experiment was conducted to determine the pollination deficit in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) and the effect of the use of Indian dammar bee as pollinator on the yield. Diverse native visitors were recorded during the blooming period. Among those honeybees, stingless bee, solitary bees, and butterflies are legitimate visitors; all of th...

The present study focuses on the emitted and endogenous scent profiles of Uvaria hamiltonii flowers. Among the 34 compounds identified, sesquiterpenoids were found to dominate the floral volatiles composition. Profiles from endogenous scent volatiles showed higher number of compounds than the emitted ones. The anthocyanin pigment responsible for th...

Pollen loads of Trigona iridipennis Smith were analyzed on a comparative basis between rural and semi-urban areas of Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal in order to explore the botanical origin of pollen loads and pollen foraging activity of the bee species. Altogether 72 plants belonging to 37 families were recognized as pollen resources for t...

Pollen loads of Apis mellifera were analysed to assess their daily pollen collection, polleniferous flora and their pollen biomass contribution in southern West Bengal, India. After that, the pollen host selection and pollen foraging activity of the bee species were also determined. The average daily harvest of pollen loads per honey bee colony was...

Ecbolium ligustrinum (Vahl) Vollesen [Acanthaceae] is a regionally threatened widely used medicinally important plant. For the sustenance and formulation of conservation strategy, a thorough study regarding different seed ecological aspects of the plant species viz., seed production, seed-ovule ratio, seed-set percentage, seed dispersal and seed st...

For accurate determination of polleniferous taxa vis-a-vis floral fidelity of Apis mellifera L. in North 24 Pargana, West Bengal, we carried out pollen analyses of individual corbicular pollen loads collected from four apiaries during 2015-2016. Among the 2 434 analyzed loads, 72.97 % were unifloral type, 19.0 % bifloral and 8.10 % were multifloral...

For successful establishment of meliponiculture with Trigona iridipennis Smith, several attributes such as nesting substrates, orientations, elevation, internal characteristics of nests, floral resources, and foraging activity were studied in Bankura district of West Bengal, India. The most commonly found nesting substrate was tree trunks, especial...

One-hundred-and-five species corresponding to 38 families were identified through pollen analyses of 53 Apis dorsata honeys collected from Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts, West Bengal. The families most frequently encountered were Fabaceae, Arecaceae, Asteraceae and Myrtaceae. Fabaceae had the greatest representation in number of pollen typ...

The present study aimed to determine floristic composition and pollen morphology of Nayachar Island, a recently developed estuarine island of West Bengal, India. The study revealed 85 plant species belonging to 35 families. Fabaceae is the most preponderant family, whereas the members of Poaceae and Cyperaceae were with higher densities. Trees were...

The present study deals with qualitative and quantitative analysis of 276 pollen pellets and 14 honey samples of 4 honeybee species viz., apis mellifera L., A. dorsata Fabr., A. cerana Fabr. and A. florea Fabr. collected from different areas of Paschim Medinipur and Bankura Districts of West Bengal. The pollen pellets were collected during April to...

Ninety four plant species belonging to 40 families were identified through pollen analyses of 57 honey samples of Apis florea as well as from field observations in Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts, West Bengal. Fabaceae had the highest representation in number of plant species (16 taxa), followed by Asteraceae (10 taxa), Cucurbitaceae (6 tax...

Seed germination paves the way for the dormant embryo to establish itself as a new plant marking the first critical step in postembryonic plant growth and development. Germination starts with the uptake of water (imbibition), followed by induction of transcription, translation, energy metabolism, and cell division processes. Although small RNAs hav...

While studying the reproductive ecology of Ecbolium ligustrinum (Vahl) Vollesen, a member of Acanthaceae with special emphasis on floral visitors vis-à-vis pollinators, it has been found that 8 species of insects visit the plant during its flowering period. Investigations regarding foraging behaviour of the visitors entail a difference between effi...

While studying the reproductive ecology of Ecbolium ligustrinum (Vahl) Vollesen, a member of Acanthaceae with special emphasis on floral visitors vis-à-vis pollinators, it has been found that 8 species of insects visit the plant during its flowering period. Investigations regarding foraging behaviour of the visitors entail a difference between effi...

Ecbolium ligustrinum (Vahl) Vollesen (Acanthaceae) is characterized by some special features in its seedling phenology and germination. After suitable scarification seed takes 7-8 days for inception of germination. The hypocotyls exhibit rapid growth leads to lifting of seed coats with emerging cotyledons indicate epigeal pattern of germination. Th...

Ecbolium ligustrinum (Vahl) Vollesen (Acanthaceae) is characterized by some special features in its seedling phenology and germination. After suitable scarification seed takes 7-8 days for inception of germination. The hypocotyls exhibit rapid growth leads to lifting of seed coats with emerging cotyledons indicate epigeal pattern of germination. Th...

During the present investigation, pollen morphological studies of 66 species belonging to 19 families of monocots in Paschim Medinipur District have been worked out by light microscopy. The studied families are Agavaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Arecaceae, Asphodelaceae, Cannaceae, Colchicaceae, Commelinaceae, Costaceae, Cyperaceae, Hemerocallidaceae, Hydr...

Two species of Valeriana Linnaeus viz. V. hardwickii Wallich and V. jatamansi Jones (Valerianaceae), which were collected by authors from Phawngpui (Blue Mountain) National Park, recorded as new distributional records for the flora of Mizoram.

Phawngpui (Blue Mountain) National Park comes under Lawngtlai district of Mizoram state, is a part of Indo-Myanmar hot spot having a total area of 50 sq. km. During the scientific tour to the National Park the authors collected some interesting species of legumes of which six species viz. Aeschynomene americana L., Crotalaria dubia Grah. ex Benth.,...

Ninety four plant species belonging to 40 families were identified through pollen analyses of 57 honey samples of Apis florea as well as from field observations in Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts, West Bengal. Fabaceae had the highest representation in number of plant species (16 taxa), followed by Asteraceae (10taxa), Cucurbitaceae (6 taxa...

Mature seeds of most of the higher plants harbor dormant embryos and go through the complex process of germination under favorable environmental conditions. The germination process involves dynamic physiological, cellular and metabolic events that are controlled by the interplay of several gene products and different phytohormones. The small non-co...

The present study deals with qualitative and quantitative estimation of 1405 pairs of corbicular pollen pellets and 33 honey samples of Apis florea collected from different areas of Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts of West Bengal. We also observed the forage pattern in the field during the time period (December to May). Altogether 71 plant s...

During the botanical exploration tour to Phawngpui Blue Mountain National Park, Mizoram in the year 2011, an interesting species of Impatiens i.e. Impatiens monticola (Balsaminaceae) is collected. The species is reported here as a new distributional record for India. It was earlier reported only from two localities of China viz. Chongqing and Sichu...

Five species of angiosperms Agapetes affinis (Griff.) Airy Shaw (Ericaceae), Delphinium altissimum Wall. (Ranunculaceae), Gomphostemma velutinum Benth. (Lamiaceae), Peperomia heyneana Miq. (Piperaceae) and Suregada multiflora (A. Juss.) Baill. (Euphorbiaceae) are reported as new distributional records for the state.

Pollination ecology of the precious timber-yielding plant, Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq. (Meliaceae) has been worked out recently. The species is a native of West Indies and Honduras and now naturalized in USA, Cuba, Africa and South-East Asia including India. Present study is based on a nearly century old stand of 109 trees of the tree species in...

Species like Lysimachia deltoidea Wight (Primulaceae), Sauropus macrophyllus Hooker f. (Euphorbiaceae) and Utricularia furcellata Oliver (Lentibulariaceae) are collected from Phawngpui National Park (Blue Mountain), Lawngtlai District of Mizoram and are reported first time for the State. The same have been described along with photographs.

The Acanthaceae is a large pantropical family of about 229 genera and nearly 3450 species. About 70 genera and 340 species have been reported from India. It represents a typical eurypalynous family showing a broad range of pollen morphotypes. Palynological observations were carried out of 14 species collected from various localities of Midnapore ar...