Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48825-1115, USA.
Department of Horticulture, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48825-1115, USA.
J Econ Entomol. 2024 Jun 10;117(3):1057-1070. doi: 10.1093/jee/toae084.
To better understand how frequently pollinators visit the most popular annuals and the variation among cultivars, we evaluated 3-6 cultivars, each of petunia, impatiens, begonia, geranium, pansy, and New Guinea impatiens. These 6 annuals account for 46.6% of all garden center annual flower sales in the United States. Flower visits by honey bees, bumble bees, syrphids, other Diptera and other Hymenoptera, combined, varied 3 to 10-fold among cultivars within each of the 6 popular annuals. Begonia and impatiens were visited more frequently by pollinators than pansy, petunia, NG impatiens, and geranium. The 4 most visited cultivars, begonia 'Cocktail Brandy', begonia 'Ambassador Rose Blush', impatiens 'Accent Coral', and impatiens 'Super Elfin XP White' attracted as many pollinators as a benchmark annual, marigold 'Alumia Vanilla Cream', considered as moderately attractive to pollinators. Some conclusions from this research may be helpful for homeowners, landscapers, growers, and breeders. First, the most popular annual flowers are not a good choice for the purpose of attracting and supporting pollinators. However, the large variation among cultivars provides an opportunity to select cultivars that are more attractive to pollinators, particularly for begonia and impatiens. If the most pollinator-visited cultivars of begonia and impatiens are labeled and promoted as such, it would be beneficial to pollinators in urban and suburban landscapes in the USA and Europe, where they comprise 10%-20% of all annual flowers purchased from garden centers.
为了更好地了解传粉者访问最受欢迎的一年生植物的频率以及品种间的差异，我们评估了 3-6 个矮牵牛、凤仙花、秋海棠、天竺葵、三色堇和新几内亚凤仙花品种。这 6 种一年生植物占美国所有花园中心一年生花卉销售额的 46.6%。在这 6 种受欢迎的一年生植物中，蜜蜂、熊蜂、食蚜蝇、其他双翅目和其他膜翅目传粉者的花朵访问量在每个品种之间变化了 3 到 10 倍。秋海棠和凤仙花比三色堇、矮牵牛、新几内亚凤仙花和天竺葵更受传粉者的青睐。访问频率最高的 4 个品种是秋海棠“鸡尾酒白兰地”、秋海棠“大使玫瑰粉”、凤仙花“口音珊瑚”和凤仙花“超级精灵 XP 白”，吸引的传粉者数量与基准一年生植物万寿菊“阿卢米亚香草奶油”一样多，后者被认为对传粉者具有中等吸引力。这项研究的一些结论可能对房主、景观设计师、种植者和培育者有帮助。首先，最受欢迎的一年生花卉并不是吸引和支持传粉者的好选择。然而，品种间的巨大差异为选择对传粉者更具吸引力的品种提供了机会，特别是对秋海棠和凤仙花而言。如果将最受传粉者访问的秋海棠和凤仙花品种贴上标签并加以推广，这将对美国和欧洲城市和郊区景观中的传粉者有益，这些地区从花园中心购买的一年生花卉中，有 10%-20%是这些品种。
