Cowpea is an important grain legume crop in Africa. Cowpea flowers are capable of self‐fertilization, which might be the most frequent type of reproduction. Nevertheless, the rate of cross‐pollination could vary between 1% and 10%, depending on the populations of bumblebees or domestic bees that are present, the climate and the cultivar. The aim of this study was to identify and assess the efficiency rate of the pollinators of the wild cowpea, Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata var. spontanea, the progenitor of the domesticated cowpea Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata. Pollination study was conducted by observing patches of flowers (average 10–20/m²) from dawn to midday, approximately 05:00–12:30 hr for three years. All insects visiting the flowers were noted and identified to species level, where possible, and their foraging behaviour was monitored. Pollen grain deposit and pod set were estimated using single bee visits on plants with strictly outcrossing flowers. Major flower visitors were large bees of the family Megachilidae and the genus Xylocopa (Apidae, Xylocopinae). Xylocopa caffra (Linnaeus) was the most abundant bee species, accounting for 59% of total bees observed and 58% of total flower visited. Pod set was higher in visits by megachilid bees compared to Xylocopa bees. Within Xylocopa, there is a good correlation between size and efficiency (r = .95, p = .0477), the larger insects being more efficient. Honeybees, small bees (Ceratina and Nomia species) and Lepidopterans also visited flowers but without any effect on pollination. Cowpea pollination system is specialized, and pollinators are restricted to Megachilidae and Xylocopa species. Variation in pollen load deposit and pod set reveals that pollination success depends on the insect species involved and their size. Megachilids are the most efficient pollinators, especially since they are able to promote outcrossing more efficiently than Xylocopa species.

中文翻译：

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更大更好吗？蜜蜂科（Xylocopinae），巨翅目和cow豆（Vigna unguiculata）授粉

豆是非洲重要的豆类谷物作物。pea豆花具有自我受精的能力，这可能是最常见的繁殖方式。但是，异花授粉的比率可能在1％到10％之间变化，这取决于所存在的大黄蜂或家养蜂的种群，气候和品种。这项研究的目的是确定和评估野生cow豆Vigna unguiculata亚种的授粉媒介效率。Unguiculata变种 自发性ea豆（Vipon unguiculata subsp。）的祖先。unguiculata。通过观察花朵斑块进行授粉研究（平均10–20 / m ²）从黎明到中午，大约三年的05：00–12：30 hr。记录所有访花的昆虫，并在可能的情况下按物种水平进行识别，并监控其觅食行为。花粉粒的沉积和荚果的估计是通过对有严格异花的植物进行单次蜂访来进行的。主要的花访客是大叶甲科和木兰属（Apidae，Xylocopinae）的大型蜜蜂。Xylocopa caffra（Linnaeus）是最丰富的蜜蜂种类，占观察到的蜜蜂总数的59％，到访的花朵总数的58％。相较于Xylocopa蜜蜂，大头足类蜜蜂造访的豆荚设置更高。在Xylocopa内部，大小与效率之间存在良好的相关性（r = 0.95，p  = .0477），较大的昆虫效率更高。蜜蜂，小蜜蜂（Ceratina和Nomia物种）和鳞翅目也访问了花朵，但对授粉没有影响。pea豆的授粉系统是专门的，授粉媒介仅限于大叶甲科和木兰科。花粉负载沉积物和荚果集的变化表明，授粉成功取决于所涉及的昆虫种类及其大小。大甲虫是最有效的传粉媒介，尤其是因为它们能够比木兰科更有效地促进异交。