Conclusions

In Uttara Kannada district, the peak monsoon season is considered as a challenging time for honeybees, due to the general absence of flowering in the vegetation, both wild and cultivated. The present study reveals that the largely denuded coastal laterite hills and plateaus, characteristic of Uttara Kannada district, seldom ever studied for their floristic diversity, play a crucial role in supporting the food-starved honeybee population during the peak of monsoon season when these habitats get carpeted with a wealth of ephemeral herbs flowering prolifically. Various species of monsoon herbs like Utricularias, Eriocaulons and Impatiens and F. indica, a shrub, were most notable monsoon blooming species, which supported not only honeybees but also many other insects. These rocky habitats, subjected to heavy human pressures due to biomass removal, quarrying for building stones and, of late, due to en masse creation of Acacia plantations, certainly should merit better deal in conservation circles not only for their off-season support to honeybee species or butterflies but also for their unique community of herbs, with several rare and newly reported species.