Insect Pollinators Frequenting Strawberry Blossoms and the Effect of Honey Bees on Yield and Fruit Quality1

Abstract

Open plots of strawbery ( Fragaria sp.) or plots caged with colonies of honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.) produced less malformed fruit than plots screened to exclude large insects. Bees and large Diptera, mostly drone flies ( Eristalis spp.), were the most numerous visitors to the strawberry blossoms. A list of insects including 108 species representing 35 families frequenting strawberry blossoms in Utah was compiled. The most efficient pollinators were Apis mellifera , Halictus ligatus Say, and Eristalis spp.