scholarly journals Conservation Conundrum: At-risk Bumble Bees (Bombus spp.) Show Preference for Invasive Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca) While Foraging in Protected Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelby D Gibson ◽  
Amanda R Liczner ◽  
Sheila R Colla
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
North America ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Bee Foraging ◽  
Vicia Cracca

AbstractIn recent decades, some bumble bee species have declined, including in North America. Declines have been reported in species of bumble bees historically present in Ontario, including: yellow bumble bee (Bombus fervidus) (Fabricus, 1798), American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) (DeGeer, 1773), and yellow-banded bumble bee (Bombus terricola) (Kirby, 1837). Threats contributing to bumble bee population declines include: land-use changes, habitat loss, climate change, pathogen spillover, and pesticide use. A response to the need for action on pollinator preservation in North America has been to encourage ‘bee-friendly’ plantings. Previous studies show differences in common and at-risk bumble bee foraging; however, similar data are unavailable for Ontario. Our research question is whether there is a difference in co-occurring at-risk and common bumble bee (Bombus spp.) floral use (including nectar and pollen collection) in protected areas in southern Ontario. We hypothesize that common and at-risk species forage differently, predicting that at-risk species forage on a limited selection of host plants. We conducted a field survey of sites in southern Ontario, using observational methods to determine bumble bee foraging by species. The results of a redundancy analysis show a difference in foraging between common and at-risk bumblebee species. At-risk bumble bee species show a preference for foraging on invasive, naturalized Vicia cracca (tufted vetch). This finding raises the question of how to preserve or provide forage for at-risk bumble bees, when they show an association with an invasive species often subject to control in protected areas.

scholarly journals Why Are Queens Broodless? Failed Nest Initiation Not Linked to Parasites, Mating Status, or Ovary Development in Two Bumble Bee Species of Pyrobombus (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 (2) ◽  
pp. 575-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L Mullins ◽  
James P Strange ◽  
Amber D Tripodi
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Commercial Production ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Ovary Development ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Mating Status ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Causal Factors

Abstract Bumble bees (Bombus [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) are important pollinators for agricultural crops, which has led to their commercial domestication. Despite their importance, little is known about the reproductive biology of bumble bees native to North America. The Hunt bumble bee (Bombus huntii Greene [Hymenoptera: Apidae]) and the Vosnesensky bumble bee (Bombus vosnesenskii Radoszkowski [Hymenoptera: Apidae] are native candidates for commercial production in western North America due to their efficacy in providing commercial pollination services. Availability of pollinators native to the region in which services would be provided would minimize the likelihood of introducing exotic species and spreading novel disease. Some parasites are known to affect bumble bee reproduction, but little is known about their prevalence in North America or how they affect queen success. Only 38% of wild-caught B. huntii and 51% wild-caught B. vosnesenskii queens collected between 2015 and 2017 initiated nests in the laboratory. Our objective was to identify causal factors leading to a queen’s inability to oviposit. To address this, we dissected each broodless queen and diagnosed diseases, assessed mating status, and characterized ovary development. Nematodes, arthropods, and microorganisms were detected in both species. Overall, 20% of queens were infected by parasites, with higher rates in B. vosnesenskii. Over 95% of both species were mated, and over 88% had developed ovaries. This suggests that parasitism and mating status were not primary causes of broodlessness. Although some failure to nest can be attributed to assessed factors, additional research is needed to fully understand the challenges presented by captive rearing.

Foraging by bumble bees on patches of artificial flowers: a laboratory study

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 1866-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. K. Hartling ◽  
R. C. Plowright
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Study ◽  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Optimal Foraging Theory ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Bee Foraging ◽  
Bombus Atratus ◽  
Artificial Flowers ◽  
Repeat Visits

A remotely controlled artificial flower system for investigation of bumble bee foraging behaviour in the laboratory is described. The behaviour of Bombus atratus Fkln. workers from captive colonies trained to forage on patches of artificial flowers in a flight room conformed well to the predictions of optimal foraging theory. Within-patch movement was systematic, tending to minimize repeat visits to flowers sampled previously. Between-patch movement was influenced both by frequency of encounters with empty flowers in the first patch and by inter-patch distance.

scholarly journals The bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus) of Arkansas, fifty years later

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber D. Tripodi ◽  
Allen L. Szalanski
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
North America ◽  
State Level ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
County Level ◽  
Historical Survey ◽  
National Trends ◽  
Historical Levels ◽  
Over Time

Many species of bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus Latreille) are declining throughout their ranges in North America, yet detecting population trends can be difficult when historical survey data are lacking.  In the present study, contemporary data is compared to a 1965 survey to detect changes in bumble bee distributions throughout Arkansas.  Using county-level records as a point of comparison to look for changes in state-wide occurrence among species over time, we find that state-level changes reflect national trends.  Contemporary records of Bombus bimaculatus Cresson and B. impatiens Cresson have more than tripled, while records for B. pensylvanicus (De Geer) show a decline to 61% of historical levels.  Although B. fervidus (Fabricius) has been reported infrequently in the state, misidentifications may have led to an overestimation of the state’s species richness.  In addition to an updated assessment of the bumble bees of Arkansas, we also provide new, localized information on the seasonal phenology and plant preferences of each species that can be used to guide conservation efforts.

scholarly journals Contrasting effects of land cover on nesting habitat use and reproductive output for bumble bees

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Pugesek ◽  
Elizabeth E. Crone
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Habitat Use ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Nesting Habitat ◽  
Below Ground

AbstractUnderstanding habitat quality is central to understanding the distributions of species on the landscape, as well as to conserving and restoring at-risk species. Although it is well-known that many species require different resources throughout their life cycles, pollinator conservation efforts focus almost exclusively on forage resources.Here, we evaluate nesting habitat for bumble bees by locating nests directly on the landscape. We compared colony density and colony reproductive output for Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee, across three different land cover types (hay fields, meadows, and forests). We also recorded nest site characteristics, e.g., the position of each nest site, for all Bombus nests located during surveys to tease apart species-specific patterns of habitat use.We found that B. impatiens nests exclusively underground in two natural land cover types, forests and meadows, but not in hay fields. B. impatiens nested at similar densities in both in meadows and forests, but colonies in forests had much higher reproductive output.In contrast to B. impatiens, B. griseocollis frequently nested on the surface of the ground and was almost always found in meadows. B. bimaculatis nests were primarily below ground in meadows. B. perplexis nested below ground in all three habitat types, including hay fields.For some bumble bee species in this system, e.g., B. griseocollis and B. bimaculatis, meadows, the habitat type with abundant forage resources, may be sufficient to maintain them throughout their life cycles. However, B. impatiens might benefit from heterogeneous landscapes with forests and meadows. Further research would be needed to evaluate whether hay fields are high-quality nesting sites for the one species that used them, B. perplexis.Synthesis and applications. In the past, Bombus nesting studies have been perceived as prohibitively labor-intensive. This example shows that it is possible to directly measure nesting habitat use and quality for bumble bee species. Applying these methods to more areas, especially areas where at-risk Bombus spp. are abundant, is an important next step for identifying bumble bee habitat needs throughout their life cycles.

scholarly journals First records of the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Bombus impatiens Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Apinae, Bombini) from the Prairies Ecozone in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Palmier ◽  
Cory Sheffield
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Field Crop ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Canadian Prairies ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Natural Range ◽  
The Common

In Canada, the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (BombusimpatiensCresson) is native to southern Ontario and Quebec, but since being developed as a managed commercial pollinator, it has been exported to several other provinces for use in greenhouse and field crop settings. This has enabled this species to become established outside its natural range and it is now established in eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) and British Columbia. To date, the species has not been detected via field capture in the prairie provinces.Here we report on recent captures ofB.impatiensworkers and males from south-eastern Alberta and suggest that these specimens escaped from nearby commercial greenhouses. The risk that the presence and looming establishment of this species has on native bumble bees in the Canadian prairies is discussed.

scholarly journals Projected climate change will reduce habitat suitability for bumble bees in the Pacific Northwest

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan B. Koch ◽  
Chris Looney ◽  
Brandon Hopkins ◽  
Elinor M. Lichtenberg ◽  
Walter S. Sheppard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
The Pacific

AbstractGlobal climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of the modern era. The impacts of climate change are increasingly well understood, and have already begun to materialize across diverse ecosystems and organisms. Bumble bees (Bombus) are suspected to be highly sensitive to climate change as they are predominately adapted to temperate and alpine environments. In this study, we determine which bumble bee species are most vulnerable to climate change in the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is a topographically complex landscape that is punctuated by two major mountain ranges and a labyrinth of offshore islands in the Salish Sea. Using standardized survey methods, our study documents the occurrence of 15 bumble bee species across 23 field sites in seven federal parks, historical sites, and monuments. Our results show that bumble bee community richness and diversity increases along an altitude gradient in these protected areas. Furthermore, NMDS analysis reveals that high altitude environments are composed of a unique group of bumble bee species relative to low altitude environments. Finally, based on an analysis of species distributions models that aggregate bioclimatic data from global circulation climate models with preserved specimen records, we discover that 80% of the bumble bee species detected in our survey are poised to undergo habitat suitability (HS) loss within the next 50 years. Species primarily found in high altitude environments namelyB. vandykei, B. sylvicola, andB. bifariusare projected to incur a mean HS loss of 63%, 59%, and 30% within the federally protected areas, respectively. While the implementation of climate change policies continue to be a significant challenge, the development of mitigation strategies to conserve the most vulnerable species may be a tractable option for land managers and stakeholders of protected areas. Our study meets this need by identifying which species and communities are most sensitive to climate change.

scholarly journals Revision of the North American species of Promicrogaster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with an updated key to all described species in North and Meso America

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 89-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Fernandez-Triana
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
North America ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
The North ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Southwestern Usa

The genus Promicrogaster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) in North America is revised and seven new species are described: floridakeys, gainesvillensis, huachuca, jaymeae, madreanensis, rondeau and virginianus. All but one have so far been found in protected areas of Canada and the USA, with two species collected at rather high altitudes of over 1,600 m.a.s.l. (Arizona, southwestern USA), whereas the other five were found in Eastern North America (southern Ontario and several USA states) at relatively lower altitudes (less than 150 m.a.s.l.). A key to all 31 described species in North and Meso America is provided. A species from Costa Rica previously described in Promicrogaster is here transferred to a different genus as Hypomicrogasterpablouzagai (Fernández-Triana & Boudreault, 2016), comb. nov.

Enzyme gene variation in five species of bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 1263-1266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Bregazzi ◽  
Terence Laverty
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variability ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Enzyme Gene ◽  
Gene Variation ◽  
Expected Heterozygosity ◽  
Enzyme Loci ◽  
Bombus Affinis

Genetic variability at eight enzyme loci was assessed in five bumble bee species from southern Ontario: Bombus affinis Cresson, B. fervidus (Fabricius), B. bimaculatus Cresson, B. impatiens Cresson, and B. vagans Smith. Average expected heterozygosity (Hexp ± SE) across all species was 0.089 ± 0.023 (range 0.046–0.139). These values are higher than any previously reported estimates of average expected heterozygosities for bumble bees.

scholarly journals Test of the invasive pathogen hypothesis of bumble bee decline in North America

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (16) ◽  
pp. 4386-4391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sydney A. Cameron ◽  
Haw Chuan Lim ◽  
Jeffrey D. Lozier ◽  
Michelle A. Duennes ◽  
Robbin Thorp
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Geographic Origin ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Nosema Bombi ◽  
Bee Decline

Emergent fungal diseases are critical factors in global biodiversity declines. The fungal pathogen Nosema bombi was recently found to be widespread in declining species of North American bumble bees (Bombus), with circumstantial evidence suggesting an exotic introduction from Europe. This interpretation has been hampered by a lack of knowledge of global genetic variation, geographic origin, and changing prevalence patterns of N. bombi in declining North American populations. Thus, the temporal and spatial emergence of N. bombi and its potential role in bumble bee decline remain speculative. We analyze Nosema prevalence and genetic variation in the United States and Europe from 1980, before an alleged introduction in the early 1990s, to 2011, extracting Nosema DNA from Bombus natural history collection specimens from across this time period. Nosema bombi prevalence increased significantly from low detectable frequency in the 1980s to significantly higher frequency in the mid- to late-1990s, corresponding to a period of reported massive infectious outbreak of N. bombi in commercial bumble bee rearing stocks in North America. Despite the increased frequency, we find no conclusive evidence of an exotic N. bombi origin based on genetic analysis of global Nosema populations; the widespread Nosema strain found currently in declining United States bumble bees was present in the United States before commercial colony trade. Notably, the US N. bombi is not detectably different from that found predominantly throughout Western Europe, with both regions characterized by low genetic diversity compared with high levels of diversity found in Asia, where commercial bee breeding activities are low or nonexistent.

scholarly journals COVID Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Fatal Car Crashes: More Deaths on Hobbesian Highways?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 238-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall W. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Traffic Volume ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Usa

Abstract Research Question What happened to US traffic safety during the first US COVID-19 lockdown, and why was the pattern the opposite of that observed in previous sudden declines of traffic volume? Data National and local statistics on US traffic volume, traffic fatalities, injury accidents, speeding violations, running of stop signs, and other indicators of vehicular driving behavior, both in 2020 and in previous US economic recessions affecting the volume of road traffic. Methods Comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between the data for the COVID-19 lockdown in parts of the USA in March 2020 and similar data for the 2008–2009 global economic crisis, as well as other US cases of major reductions in traffic volume. Findings The volume of traffic contracted sharply once a COVID-19 national emergency was declared and most states issued stay-at-home orders, but motor vehicle fatality rates, injury accidents, and speeding violations went up, and remained elevated even as traffic began returning toward normal. This pattern does not fit post-World War II recessions where fatality rates declined with the volume of traffic nor does the 2020 pattern match the pattern during World War II when traffic dropped substantially with little change in motor vehicle fatality rates. Conclusions The findings are consistent with a theory of social distancing on highways undermining compliance with social norms, a social cost of COVID which, if not corrected, poses potential long-term increases in non-compliance and dangerous driving.

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