Two gut community enterotypes recur in diverse bumblebee species

Fuchsia magellanica (Ongaraceae) is a plant with a traditionally ornithopholous pollination system, pollinated primarily by hummingbirds in its native range. As a naturalised alien plant in Ireland, F. magellanica is visited largely by bumblebees, with evidence for nectar robbing behaviour of the long-tubed flowers. We aimed to investigate nectar robbing behaviour of bumblebees on F. magellanica, and in particular whether floral and pollinator traits (size) determined likelihood of nectar robbing. While F. magellanica was visited by a number of bumblebee species, only two with shorter tongue lengths were observed to rob nectar from flowers. Although there was no observed relationship between intra-specific bee body size and nectar robbing behaviour, nectar robbing was observed most frequently in the site with the highest number of bees. Proportions of robbed flowers were low overall and varied between populations, but there was a significant relationship between flower size and whether it was nectar robbed with larger flowers robbed more often. Our work suggests that floral size determines whether a flower-visitor will choose to nectar rob or not in this system. Nectar robbing may also be related to bee density which could suggest this behaviour is driven by competition for resources, or that it is learnt by observing other bees.

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Abundance, species composition and daily pattern of bees visiting field bean, goat’s rue and turnip rape in southern Finland

Agricultural and Food Science ◽

10.23986/afsci.72623 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 4 (5-6) ◽

pp. 473-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anna-Liisa Varis

Keyword(s):

Apis Mellifera ◽

Species Composition ◽

Brassica Rapa ◽

Basic Knowledge ◽

Large Field ◽

Field Bean ◽

Turnip Rape ◽

Bumblebee Species ◽

Constant Rate ◽

Galega Orientalis

Visits of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) and bumblebees (Bombas spp.) to flowers of field bean (Vida faba L.), goat’s rue (Galega orientalis Lam.) and spring turnip rape (Brassica rapa ssp. oleifera DC.) were studied to get some basic knowledge about the species composition, abundance and daily rhythm of bees visiting these plants. The studies were made under field conditions. Only pollinating specimens were counted. Both on field bean and goat’s rue 44% of the visitors were honeybees, on turnip rape the proportion of honeybees was 96%. Field bean was visited by Bombas subterraneus (L.)/B, hortorum (L.) as well as by B. lucorum (L.). These species were also present on goat’s rue; the most numerous bumblebee species on this plant, however, was B. lapidarius (L.) which was also the only bumblebee species visiting turnip rape. The total number of bees was highest on goat’s rue. The visits of honeybees began on field bean at noon and were most numerous in the afternoon. On goat’s rue, the numbers were smaller in the mornings, whereas turnip rape was visited at a rather constant rate throughout the day. On field bean, the numbers of B. subterraneus/B. hortorum increased and those of B. lucorum decreased towards the afternoon. On goat’s rue, these species were present in the morning and in the afternoon. B. lapidarius was present on goat’s rue during the whole day, but on turnip rape only in the mornings. On the basis of these results and earlier investigations it is concluded that the numbers of natural pollinators are rather low to assure adequate pollination in turnip rape and large field bean areas under the conditions in southern Finland. If the growing of goat’s rue becomes more prevalent, its pollination requirements need further studies.

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New Balkan records of Bombus subterraneus (Linnaeus 1758) and Bombus cryptarum (Fabricius 1775) from Greece

ENTOMOLOGIA HELLENICA ◽

10.12681/eh.11608 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 18 ◽

pp. 56 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ioannis Th. Anagnostopoulos

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

New Records ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Rflp Analysis ◽

Original Data ◽

Insect Fauna ◽

Bumblebee Species ◽

Species Lists ◽

Vicia Cracca ◽

First Time

From the study of the Greek bumblebee fauna (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombini), species lists have been published based on both literature records and original data from collected bees. Since 1995 a special effort to confirm with newly collected bees all bumblebee species reported in literature records for Greece has been in progress. Although numerous specimens have been collected and examined and in some instances yielding new Bombus species for the Greek insect fauna, some species, mainly those reported in older references, have not yet been found. Recently, identification of bumblebees collected in the Florina Prefecture - Northwest Macedonia, during the years 2006 and 2007 yielded information for two “literature cited” species, Bombus subterraneus (Linnaeus 1758) and Bombus cryptarum (Fabricius 1775). A B. subterraneus queen (collected at 40°47´38N, 21°26´10E on Vicia cracca) was distinguished by morphological characteristics and a worker B. cryptarum (collected at 40°41´58,7N, 21°28´18,5E on Echium spp) was revealed using mitochondrial DNA RFLP analysis of the CO1 gene. These new records from Florina are provided with comments, confirming the species presence in Greece for the first time after approximately 40 years.

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A phylogenetic framework for the bumblebee species of the subgenus Bombus sensu stricto based on mitochondrial DNA markers, with a short description of the neglected taxon B. minshanicola Bischoff, 1936 n. status. (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus).

Beiträge zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology ◽

10.21248/contrib.entomol.60.2.471-487 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 60 (2) ◽

pp. 471-487

Author(s):

Andreas Bertsch

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Cytochrome Oxidase ◽

Dna Markers ◽

Sensu Stricto ◽

Short Description ◽

Bumblebee Species ◽

Neue Art ◽

Phylogenetic Framework ◽

Bombus Affinis ◽

N Status

Königinnen von 12 Taxa der Untergattung Bombus sensu stricto (Bombus affinis, B. albocinctus, B. cryptarum, B. lucorum, B. magnus, B. moderatus, B. occidentalis, B. patagiatus, B. sporadicus, B. terrestris, B. terricola and B. tunicatus) wurden im Frühjahr gefangen, um künstliche Kolonien zu züchten. Zusätzlich wurden Männchen von B. franklini und B. lucorum/China gefangen. Mitochondriale Cytochrome Oxidase Untereinheit I (COI) von 53 Proben wurde sequenziert (Teilsequenzen der Länge 1257 bp). GenBank Sequenzen der Ostasiatischen Arten B. hypocrita, B. ignitus und B. lucorum/China wurden einbezogen. Der Unterschied zwischen den Arten beträgt 30 – 92 Basen-Substitutionen und die Tamura-Nei genetische Distanz 0.030-0.103, während der Unterschied innerhalb der Arten nur 1 – 3 Basensubstitution beträgt und die Tamura-Nei genetische Distanz nur 0.001-0.003. Dreizehn Taxa mit Artrang sowie eine neue Art B. minshanicola Bischoff 1936 (= B. terrestris ssp. minshanicola = B. lucorum/China) wurden nachgewiesen. In der Topologie des phylogenetischen Stammbaums gibt es 4 Cluster: ein Artenpaar B. sporadicus – B. ignitus und ein Artenpaar B. terricola – B. occidentalis, ein Cluster für B. magnus, B. patagiatus and B. cryptarum mit den Subspecies B. cryptarum albocinctus und B. cryptarum moderatus sowie ein Cluster für B. hypocrita, B. lucorum, B. minshanicola, B. franklini and B. affinis. Die Arten B. terrestris mit den Subspecies B. terrestris canariensis und B. terrestris sassaricus sowie B. tunicatus sind einzeln abgetrennt. Da sich im Alignment der COI Sequenzen keine Lücken finden, können die einzelnen Nucleotid-Positionen als homolog betrachtet werden. Jede Art besitzt eine Reihe einzigartiger (‘privater’) Positionen, die als diagnostische Merkmale benutzt werden können um die Art zu definieren und zu identifizieren.

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Comparison of the colony development of two native bumblebee species Bombus ignitus and Bombus lucorum as candidates for commercial pollination in China.

Journal of Apicultural Research ◽

10.3896/ibra.1.47.1.04 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 22-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J Wu

Keyword(s):

Colony Development ◽

Bumblebee Species ◽

Bombus Lucorum ◽

Bombus Ignitus

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Estimating possible bumblebee range shifts in response to climate and land cover changes

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-76164-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yukari Suzuki-Ohno ◽

Jun Yokoyama ◽

Tohru Nakashizuka ◽

Masakado Kawata

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Forest Area ◽

Range Shifts ◽

Coniferous Forests ◽

Land Cover Changes ◽

Secondary Forests ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Bumblebee Species ◽

The Past ◽

Occurrence Data

AbstractWild bee decline has been reported worldwide. Some bumblebee species (Bombus spp.) have declined in Europe and North America, and their ranges have shrunk due to climate and land cover changes. In countries with limited historical and current occurrence data, it is often difficult to investigate bumblebee range shifts. Here we estimated the past/present distributions of six major bumblebee species in Japan with species distribution modeling using current occurrence data and past/present climate and land cover data. The differences identified between estimated past and present distributions indicate possible range shifts. The estimated ranges of B. diversus, B. hypocrita, B. ignitus, B. honshuensis, and B. beaticola shrank over the past 26 years, but that of B. ardens expanded. The lower altitudinal limits of the estimated ranges became higher as temperature increased. When focusing on the effects of land cover change, the estimated range of B. diversus slightly shrank due to an increase in forest area. Such increase in forest area may result from the abandonment of agricultural lands and the extension of the rotation time of planted coniferous forests and secondary forests. Managing old planted coniferous forests and secondary forests will be key to bumblebee conservation for adaptation to climate change.

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