Phenology and floral visitors of Erythrina crista-galli L. (Leguminosae: Faboideae) in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

Erythrina crista-galli is a characteristic species of the Pampa biome also used as an ornament in urban arborization. Erythrina crista-galli flourishes more intensively from November to Decem¬ber. Anthesis starts around 7:00 am to 11:00 am, and flowers last five days. A total of 1,275 floral visits were registered over 57h of observations. Apidae bees (Trigona spinipes and Apis mellifera) were the most frequent visitors (88.23%), followed by Muscidae flies (5.50%), Formicidae ants (2.35%), Vespidae wasps (1.56%), and Chrysomelidae beetles (1.56%). Trochilidae hummingbirds (Chlorostilbon aureoventris) (0.79%) also visited the flowers. Trigona spinipes was observed at throughout the daytime and behaved as a probable pollinator, along with A. mellifera and C. aureoventris. E. crista-galli is autocompatible, producing fruits and seeds after manual pollination and under natural conditions.

Keywords

• Chlorostilbon aureoventris
• Erythrina crista-galli
• phenology
• Trigona spinipes