Grasses such as sorghum are rarely considered as an important food resource for pollinators. In this study, we report insects collecting or consuming pollen of sorghum over the 8-week flowering period of a mapping population in Tifton, GA. We also examine the response of insects to plant morphological traits and disease damage, and the ability of bumble bees to cross-pollinate sorghum.
Supplemental Figure Legends:
Supplemental Fig. 1. Average air temperature (orange line) and precipitation (blue bars) that occurred during the sorghum growing season of 2022 in Tifton, GA. Data from NRCS National Water and Climate Center, SCAN site no. 2027 (https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nwcc/site?sitenum=2027).
Supplemental Fig. 2. Probability of observing a hover fly on a sorghum panicle for each week of flowering. Probabilities with the same letter are not different at \u03b1 = 0.05.
Supplemental Fig. 3. Probability of observing a bee (honey, bumble, or southern carpenter) on a sorghum panicle each week of flowering. Probabilities with the same letter are not different at \u03b1 = 0.05.
Supplemental Fig. 4. The probability of observing an insect on a sorghum panicle by week of flowering. Probabilities with the same letter are not different at \u03b1 = 0.05.