The massive use of insecticides across the world by farmers greatly affected bee population in the past decades. Many of the world's crops are pollinated by insects but bees are often regarded to have the most vital role in crop pollination. A team of international researchers claimed that other insects are as important as bees.
In the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers found that non-bee pollinators like flies, wasps, butterflies and beetles can provide insurance against declines in bee population. However, insecticides that spare bees could detrimentally pose threats in other insects that perform pollination as well.
"Scientists haven't broadly explored the role of non-bee insects in crop pollination. The global reliance on honeybees for pollination is a risky strategy given the threats to the health of managed honeybee populations due to pests and diseases such as varroa mites and colony collapse disorder," University of Queensland plant ecologist and co-author of the study, Dr. Margaret Mayfield, said.
The study was conducted to make others aware of the importance in changing agricultural practices based on scientific findings.
The team was spearheaded by Dr. Romina Rader of the University of New England. She started the project to shed light in the importance of non-bee insects that contribute to ecosystems around the world. These non-bees also play major roles in pollination of crops.
To come up with such findings, the researchers analyzed the data collected from 17 pollinator-dependent crops around the world. A total of 39 field studies across 480 fields were conducted during the duration of the study.
They found that non-bee pollinators conducted the same number of flower visits as honey bees. Based on visitation frequency and pollen deposition, they found that it was the same for honey bees and non-bee insects at 39 percent.
"These results strongly suggest that non-bee insect pollinators play a significant role in global crop production and respond differently than bees to landscape structure, probably making their crop pollination services more robust to changes in land use," the authors wrote in the study.
"Non-bee insects provide a valuable service and provide potential insurance against bee population declines," they added.
The study included scientists from more than 35 organizations in 18 countries.
