Pollen extraction from insects

Abstract

Numerous insect species feed on the pollen, nectar and other plant exudates that are associated with flowers. As a result of this feeding activity, pollen becomes attached to the insects. Analysis of this pollen can reveal what insects eat, their dispersal patterns in and around cropping systems and their role in pollination. However, finding pollen on and/or in an insect depends on the technique used to recover pollen from the insect. Six different techniques are described in detail that have been used to recover pollen from a variety of insects including pests such as boll weevils, Mexican corn rootworms and corn earworm moths. These techniques can be use to recover pollen from internal insect tissues (gut, alimentary canal, crop, etc.), external tissues (proboscis, legs, eyes, etc.) or both. By using the most appropriate technique, better pollen recovery can be made and thus better data obtained.

Keywords:

• Entomopalynology
• pollen recovery
• insects
• laboratory preparation

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Stanley D. Jones for the photographs of the Diptera and Lepidoptera. I am truly indebted to Ester F. Wilson (USDA-ARS, APMRU) for all her hard work over the years in working through all these techniques and the accompanying trials and errors, failures and successes in order to develop pollen recovery techniques that consistently worked for a variety of insect species. I am also grateful for her efforts in obtaining the photographs for the plates and transferring the micrographs from film to a digital format. I also thank Drs Cynthia Sheffield (USDA-ARS, FFSRU) and Vaughn M. Bryant, Jr (TAMU) for their review of this manuscript. I thank Jim Riding for his editorial help and patience. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.