LAUSR

Abstract  The oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacquin, is an allogamous and monoecious plant that is mainly pollinated by insects such as Mystrops costaricensis Gillogly (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) and Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). To determine the relationship between inflorescences and pollinators as well as the relationship between pollinators and bunch components, 858 palms, divided equally between two plots planting with cultivars tenera and dura of E. guineensis, were monitored every 2 weeks over 1 yr. Male inflorescences (MIs) and female inflorescences (FIs) at anthesis, and pollinators collected from the inflorescences, were recorded at each sampling. Bunch components and the amount of rainfall during the study period also were recorded. Data were analyzed using Spearman correlations and linear regression. Significant positive correlations of the total number of MIs with the total number of pollinators were found in both cultivars (ρ = 0.72, P < 0.0001, n = 24 in cultivar tenera; ρ = 0.65, P = 0.0003, n = 26 in cultivar dura). The number of pollinators were linearly related with number of MIs in both cultivars (F = 0.002; r2 = 0.50 in cultivar tenera; F = 0.0005; r2 = 0.40 in cultivar dura). For both cultivars, we found significant negative correlations of the MIs and FIs with the rainfall recorded between 21 and 24 mo before anthesis. The number of MIs and the amount of rainfall were directly related to the number of pollinators. There was an inverse relationship of the inflorescences with the rainfall recorded between 21 and 24 mo before anthesis.