Fly (Diptera) pollination efficiency and reproductive needs within crop agroecosystems - Dataset

Abstract

This dataset consists of eight tabs (the first four relating to Chapter 2 and the remaining four relating to Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 of my thesis). All data related to this thesis was collected online from the Web of Science and Scopus search engines (Chapter 2), the CropPol and Rader et al. 2020 public databases, and in the field from Griffith, New South Wales, Australia (Chapters 3, 4, and 5), from the East-North Coast of New South Wales, Australia (Chapter 6), and from Northern Tasmania, Australia (Chapter 6). Each tab has an excel spreadsheet with data from each thesis research chapter, and the content of each tab is explained below:

Chapter 2.1: A review of the life history needs of the larval and adult stages of crop flower-visiting flies (Diptera). This dataset consists of family, genus, and species names extracted from public pollination databases ('CropPol' or 'Rader et al. 2020'), the total number of searches the species name received from Scopus and/or WOS (Web of Science), whether the information for the diet and habitat needs were found ('Accessible' or 'Inaccessible'), the total number of larval and adult feeding guilds the fly may utilize ('Unknown', 'One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four', 'Five', or 'Six'), whether the fly utilizes the same feeding guilds in both active developmental stages of life ('Unknown', 'Different', or 'Same'), and finally the dataset in which the species name was extracted from ('CropPol' or 'Rader et al. 2020').

Chapter 2.2: A review of the life history needs of the larval and adult stages of crop flower-visiting flies (Diptera). This dataset consists of adult fly life history information extracted from reviewed articles, such as the feeding mechanism (e.g., chewing decaying animal flesh, sucking blood, etc.), habitat, and feeding substrate of specific crop flower-visiting fly species. The quality of this extracted information is placed in two categories ('Validated in experiment', or 'Inferred (by authors)').

Chapter 2.3: A review of the life history needs of the larval and adult stages of crop flower-visiting flies (Diptera). This dataset consists of the larval fly life history information extracted from reviewed articles, including the feeding mechanism (e.g., chewing decaying animal flesh, sucking blood, etc.), habitat, and feeding substrate of specific crop flower-visiting fly species. The quality of this extracted information is placed in four categories ('Validated in experiment', 'Inferred (by authors)', '(Validated by) Expert', and 'Unable to access').

Chapter 2.4: A review of the life history needs of the larval and adult stages of crop flower-visiting flies (Diptera). This dataset consists of the data on the biogeographic host range of the species and was extracted from species catalogues, manuals, and websites (‘References’) managed by experts in the field of Dipterology. One species may occupy more than one biogeographical region.

Chapter 3: Floral visitation surveys of insect visitors of hybrid seed carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) crop plants. Surveys were conducted up to three times a week during full bloom (22 November to 5 December 2021) at six sites throughout the day (05:00 to 17:00). Surveys were conducted along two, 10 m transects: one along the edge of the carrot field and an additional walk in the middle (> 30 m into the field). All transects were conducted walking slowly (1 m per minute when possible) between two rows of carrot plants (either ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ or ‘Monoecious’ and ‘Monecious’). The temperature and relative humidity was recorded using Kestrel® Drop D2 data loggers permanently deployed in a shaded location within, or nearby, all study sites. All insects were identified to the lowest taxonomic level using dichotomous keys.

Chapter 4: Deploying habitat to support the immature life stages of eristaline flies (Syrphidae) in hybrid seed carrot crop agroecosystems. In a paired experimental design, two habitat pools filled with substrates (‘carrot’ and ‘soil’) intended to attract eristaline flies were deployed at 7 sites. The pools were placed between 15 November to 24 November 2021 and left to decay for 12 to 21 days. Surveys of the immature life stages (‘eggs’ and/or ‘larvae’) were identified and counted within the pools. The state of the larvae (‘first instar’, ‘second instar’, ‘third instar’, or ‘dead’) as well as the location where batches of eggs were laid within the deployed habitat were determined.

Chapter 5: Effectiveness of fly and bee pollinators at pollinating hybrid carrot plants grown for seed. This dataset consists of stigmas collected after a single visit by one pollinator species. The first column is date the replicate was collected, the second column is the pollinator species, the third column is the duration of time in seconds the pollinator spent visiting the replicate, the fourth column is the number of stigmas mounted on the slide, the fifth column is the number of pollinated stigmas (at least one pollen grain touching the stigma), and the sixth column is the total number of pollen grains touching the carrot stigmas.

Chapter 6: Efficiency of fly and bee pollinators at pollinating blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) and raspberry (Rubus ideaus) crop plants. This dataset consists of berries harvested after single visitation (one visit to a flower), unlimited visitation (allowed access to flowers in a small cage setting), and open pollination (scale of a farm polytunnel) treatments under field conditions. The first column is the unique pollinator ID, the second column is the pollinator species, the third column is the type of trial (‘Cage’ or ‘Field’), the fourth column is the weight of the harvested fruits, the fifth column is the number of drupelets per fruit, the sixth column is type of defect found in the fruit (’None’, ‘Progressive’, or ‘ Critical’) as per industry standards, and the seventh column explains the type of defect seen in the fruit (if any).