OCCURRENCE OF MELITOPHILLY AND CANTAROPHILLY ON PEAR TREES POLLINATION IN BRAZIL

The presence of pollinating insects was identified in three Japanese pear cultivars (‘Housui’, ‘Kousui’ and ‘Nijisseiki’) at two locations with different climatic conditions: a) Caçador with 550UF, and b) São Joaquim with 938UF, both locations are in State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In Caçador occurred a greater diversity of insect pollinators due to the proximity of the orchard area with a native forest area. In São Joaquim only two insects pollinating species of pear trees were identified. We recorded melitophilly as the primary pollination syndrome and cantarophilly as a secondary pollination syndrome in pear trees. This latest is probably the first record in the pear culture in Brazil, and is due to presence of the beetle Astylus quadrilineatus (Germar, 1824) (Order: Coleoptera; Family: Melyridae).