Notes on collecting flower-visiting insects

Flower-visiting insects may play a role in the pollination of the flowers they visit. An important indication for this is the pollen they carry on their body. The transport of pollen does not prove pollination without observations of the behaviour of the insects on the flowers, but at least it offers suggestions for further research (concerning pollination as well as the biology of the insects). So a pollenanalysis on the load of the integument of these insects is of great importance to obtain a basis for large scale pollination studies. A pollenanalysis on the contents of the digestive tube may indicate whether it concerns anthophilous insects or not. These notes are intended for botanists who may be able to collect the insects as well as the plants, or at any rate note the name of the plants. The entomologists for their part must be asked, if the plants are unknown to them, to collect some flowers or an inflorescence together with some vegetative parts for later determination.