Effects of Eristalis tenax (Diptera: syrphidae) pollination on characteristics of greenhouse sweet pepper fruits

The pollinating effects of the drone fly, Eristalis tenax (L.), on greenhouse sweet pepper. Capsicum annuum L. were assessed by measuring fruit characteristics. Individual flowers were exposed to either no insect visits, a restricted number of visits, or a continuous exposure to flies during floral receptivity. A 5% increase in pericarp circumference was observed in fruits obtained from the continuously exposed newer group (18.2 +/- 4.5 cm [mean +/- SD]) compared with those from the nonvisited group (17.4 +/- 3.6 cm). A shift toward a greater percentage of heavier and wider fruits was observed in both fly-visited flower groups. Fruit weight, circumference, and length were highly dependent on seed set and increased as a function of cumulative visit duration. Although the pollinating behavior of E. tenax on sweet pepper flowers is still unexplained, our results indicate that fly pollination has a significant positive impact on the physical characteristics of pepper fruits.