Native Australian carpenter bees as a potential alternative to introducing bumble bees for tomato pollination in greenhouses

摘要: SUMMARYThere is commercial pressure to permit the introduction of bumble bees mainland Australia for pollination tomatoes in greenhouses. Bumble do not occur on Australia, and there are indications that recently introduced Bombus terrestris presents a threat native ecosystems Tasmania. In this pilot study, it was investigated whether green carpenter (Xylocopa (Lestis)) could be used as an alternative tomato pollination. It shown Lestis females will visit buzz pollinate flowers greenhouse grown from pollinated average heavier contain more seeds than were by Lestis. Therefore, potential use once methods mass rearing have been developed.