Floral visitors of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.): Elucidating their nectar-robbing behaviour and impacts on the plant reproduction

Abstract

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 (primarily members of Hymenoptera) visited sesame flowers. The most effective pollinators were Amegilla zonata, Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, Apis florea, Ceratina binghami, Halictus acrocephalus and Xylocopa amethystina. Almost all visitors with variable percentages revealed the nectar-robbing phenomenon. Robbing activity depended on a complex of multiple attributes, including the visitor’s body size, the corolla tube length, the availability and accessibility of nectar, and the resource-collecting task allocation of bees. Robbing activity varied according to flower-visiting species, flowering period and daytime. Robbing was comparatively higher in the late flowering period at 10.00–14.00 h. In the case of robbing visits, flower handling time was lower, and the visitation rate remained higher than non-robbing visits. Robbing visits did not significantly affect fruit and seed sets of sesame. Therefore, we can interpret the nectar-robbing interactions on sesame as commensal, with pollinators benefitting without altering the plant’s reproductive fitness.