Comparison of Apis mellifera Anatolica and Eristalis tenax as pollinators

Polination is the process of that pollens are transferred from anthers of the same or different flower stigma, which is generally a prerequisite for seed and fruit development. In plant kingdom, only a few species can pollinate itself while the most require different flowers of same plant or different individuals within same species. For the second case, specific structural modifications related to the pollen carrier are developed for characteristic pollination mechanisms. Pollination via insects is the most common pollination type seen for Angiosperm; pollinator insects transfer pollens from anter to stigma. The goal of this study was to compare Apis mellifera anatolica of Apidae family of Order Hymenoptera and Eristalis tenax taxa of Syrphidae family of Order Diptera for their pollination capabilities. Samples of A. m. anatolica was collected for the periods of June-October of 2017 and March-April of 2018 while the samples for E. tenax was collected between the period of June-December of 2017 in campus of Kastamonu University. Pollinator species were rinsed in 80% aqueous ethanol solution, followed by transferred to a new container while remaining mixture underwent centrifugation, which were then used to prepare pollen slides for microscopy examination. Pollens belong to 32 taxa and fungi spores belong to 6 taxa were determined for the collected 30 A. m. anatolica samples. Pollens belong to 26 taxa and fungi spores belong to 6 taxa were determined for the collected 28 E. tenax samples. The findings revealed that pollens carried by A. m. anatolica was more than that of carried by E. tenax. To sum up, A. m. anatolica is a better pollinator than E. tenax.