Species and Diversity Analysis of Flower-visiting Insects of Asian Sacred Lotus in Jiangxi,Hunan and Hubei Provinces

[Objective]This study aimed to investigate the community structure, species and quantities of flower-visiting insects of seed lotus in main producing ar-eas of Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces. [Method] Using sample area survey and netting method in the fixed points to investigate species and quantities of Asian sacred lotus, the species diversity of different locations was evaluated by diversity indices （H′）, evenness indices （J） and dominant concentration indices （C）. [Result] Apis mel ifera, Apis cerana cerana, Xylocopa （Koptortosoma） sinensis, Xylocopa （s.str.） valga and Xylocopa （Al oxylocopa） appendiculata, al of which belong to order Hy-menoptera were the main pol inators of lotus. Temperature was the main factor which influenced the foraging behaviors of flower-visiting insects. The daily activities of X. （s.str.） valga and X. （Al oxylocopa） appendiculata were bimodal, and that of A. mel-lifera, A. cerana cerana and X. （s.str.） valga were unimodal. The percentage of wild pol inators in Linxiang of Hunan Province and Xianning of Hubei Province were only 20.59% and 3.90% respectively, and there were six species of flower-visiting insects in Linxiang and three in Xianning. The percentages of wild pol inators in Shicheng of Jiangxi Province and the lotus garden in Huazhong Agricultural University were 55.61% and 90.40% respectively, and the flower-visiting insects belonged to 13 and 12 species respectively. The diversity index （H′） and evenness index （J） were listed here in a decreasing order： Shicheng of Jiangxi ＆gt;lotus garden in Huazhong Agricul-tural University＆gt;Linxiang of Hunan ＆gt;Xianning of Hubei. The sequence of dominant concentration indices （C） was Shicheng of Jiangxi ＆lt;the lotus garden in Huazhong Agricultural University＆lt;Linxiang of Hunan＆lt;Xianning of Hubei. The diversity indices （H′）, evenness indices （J） and dominant concentration indices （C） of each sample location were consistent. [Conclusion] The species and quantities of Asian sacred lotus vary in different ecological areas. The species and quantities of Linxiang in Hunan Province and Xianning in Hubei Province are rare. The increase of lotus production must depend on bee pol ination.