Assessment of Bee Diversity and Abundance (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) on Caesalpinia bonduc L. during the Flowering Season in the Southwestern Aravalli Region (Abu Road), Sirohi, Rajasthan, India

The aim of the present study was to document the diversity and abundance of bee species visiting Caesalpinia bonduc (Family: Fabaceae), a plant species found in the foothills of the Aravalli range, in the south-western Rajasthan area of Abu Road Tehsil, Rajasthan, India. The surveys were conducted during the flowering period from July 2021 to September 2021 and again from July 2022 to September 2022. A comprehensive analysis revealed the presence of sixteen bee species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) visiting Caesalpinia bonduc, belonging to nine different genera and categorized under four families: Apidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, and Megachilidae. Among these families, Apidae recorded the highest number of bee species, with 11 in total: Amegilla dizona, A. violacea, A. zonata, Apis cerana, A. dorsata, A. florea, Ceratina binghami, Tetragonula iridipennis, Xylocopa aestuans, X. pubescens, and X. fenestrata. The families Megachilidae and Halictidae were each represented by two species: Megachile bicolor, M. cephalotes and Nomia crassipes, Pseudapis oxybeloides respectivily. The highest abundance of all Bee species was recorded between 12.00- 2:00 pm across various time intervals. The highest abundance of Apis florea (13.4 bees/m²/5 minutes) was recorded between 12:00 and 2:00 PM, making it the most abundant species among the 16 bee species observed. At different time intervals, Apis florea consistently recorded the highest number of individuals in each interval. Other entomofauna observed on C. bonduc included Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius, 1775), Suastus gremius (Fabricius, 1798), Hasora chromus (Cramer, 1780), and Spindasis ictis (Hewitson, 1865), which belong to the order Lepidoptera. Additionally, Poekilocerus pictus (Fabricius, 1775) from the order Orthoptera and Gametis versicolor (Fabricius, 1775) from the order Coleoptera were also recorded.