scholarly journals Wild bees as floral visitors to Salvia assurgens (Lamiaceae): a contribution to the pollination ecology of a white-flowered endemic Mexican sage

2021 ◽  
pp. e1785
Author(s):  
Carlos Andres Cultid-Medina ◽  
Paola Andrea Gonz´´ález-Vanegas ◽  
Brenda Bedolla-García
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Pollination Ecology ◽  
Pollination Syndrome ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Body Area ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Pollen Loads ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Dorsal Area ◽  
Floral Visitors

Background and Aims: Salvia assurgens (a white-flowered sage) is considered to be a melittophilous species due to its floral architecture. However, there are no current empirical data supporting its assignment to this pollination syndrome. The present study aimed to record the diurnal floral visitors of S. assurgens to confirm its characterization as melittophilous and to evaluate which species of bees are potential pollinators. Methods: We collected wild bee visitors to the flowers of one population of S. assurgens in northeastern Michoacán, Mexico, during the summers of 2018 and 2019. We analyzed the pollen loads of each bee species and body area. In addition, we recorded the behavior of some wild bees when visiting flowers of S. assurgens. Key results: Seventeen bee species from three families (Apidae, Halictidae, and Megachilidae) were recorded as floral visitors of S. assurgens. Ninety percent of pollen carried by the examined bees belonged to S. assurgens. Four species of wild bees were the most frequent visitors, with S. assurgens accounting for 94.2% of the pollen on their bodies. Notably, these species presented clear differences in the distribution of pollen on their body parts: two of them, Bombus pennsylvanicus sonorus and Megachile sp. 1 accumulated up to 90% of the pollen on the frons and dorsal area of their thorax. It is most likely that pollen is transferred from these body areas to the stigma of S. assurgens. Conclusions: The present study provides evidence of the melittophilous pollination syndrome of S. assurgens. The wild bee richness recorded in this study is as high as that previously reported in studies on floral visitors to Neotropical sages. Finally, our results highlight the usefulness of considering pollen loads to increase our knowledge of Salvia pollination ecology.

Influence of Nesting Characteristics on Health of Wild Bee Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Harmon-Threatt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Site Conditions ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Nesting Biology ◽  
Habitat Disturbances ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Growth Development ◽  
Bee Communities ◽  
Nest Initiation

Nest site availability and quality are important for maintaining robust populations and communities of wild bees. However, for most species, nesting traits and nest site conditions are poorly known, limiting both our understanding of basic ecology for bee species and conservation efforts. Additionally, many of the threats commonly associated with reducing bee populations have effects that can extend into nests but are largely unstudied. In general, threats such as habitat disturbances and climate change likely affect nest site availability and nest site conditions, which in turn affect nest initiation, growth, development, and overwintering success of bees. To facilitate a better understanding of how these and other threats may affect nesting bees, in this review, I quantify key nesting traits and environmental conditions and then consider how these traits may intersect with observed and anticipated changes in nesting conditions experienced by wild bees. These data suggest that the effects of common threats to bees through nesting may strongly influence their survival and persistence but are vastly understudied. Increasing research into nesting biology and incorporating nesting information into conservation efforts may help improve conservation of this declining but critical group.

scholarly journals Possible Epigenetic Origin of a Recurrent Gynandromorph Pattern in Megachile Wild Bees

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 437
Author(s):  
Daniele Sommaggio ◽  
Giuseppe Fusco ◽  
Marco Uliana ◽  
Alessandro Minelli
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Sex Differentiation ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Phenotype ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Gene Transcripts ◽  
Individual Body

Gynandromorphs, i.e., individuals with a mix of male and female traits, are common in the wild bees of the genus Megachile (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). We described new transverse gynandromorphs in Megachile pilidens Alfkeen, 1924 and analyze the spatial distribution of body parts with male vs. female phenotype hitherto recorded in the transverse gynandromorphs of the genus Megachile. We identified 10 different arrangements, nine of which are minor variants of a very general pattern, with a combination of male and female traits largely shared by the gynandromorphs recorded in 20 out of 21 Megachile species in our dataset. Based on the recurrence of the same gynandromorph pattern, the current knowledge on sex determination and sex differentiation in the honey bee, and the results of recent gene-knockdown experiments in these insects, we suggest that these composite phenotypes are possibly epigenetic, rather than genetic, mosaics, with individual body parts of either male or female phenotype according to the locally expressed product of the alternative splicing of sex-determining gene transcripts.

scholarly journals Identity of mass-flowering crops moderates functional trait composition of pollinator communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Beyer ◽  
Felix Kirsch ◽  
Doreen Gabriel ◽  
Catrin Westphal
Keyword(s):  
Faba Bean ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Flower Morphology ◽  
Landscape Diversity ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Mass Flowering ◽  
Wild Bee

Abstract Context Pollinator declines and functional homogenization of farmland insect communities have been reported. Mass-flowering crops (MFC) can support pollinators by providing floral resources. Knowledge about how MFC with dissimilar flower morphology affect functional groups and functional trait compositions of wild bee communities is scarce. Objective We investigated how two morphologically different MFC, land cover and local flower cover of semi-natural habitats (SNH) and landscape diversity affect wild bees and their functional traits (body size, tongue length, sociality, foraging preferences). Methods We conducted landscape-level wild bee surveys in SNH of 30 paired study landscapes covering an oilseed rape (OSR) (Brassica napus L.) gradient. In 15 study landscapes faba beans (Vicia faba L.) were grown, paired with respective control landscapes without grain legumes. Results Faba bean cultivation promoted bumblebees (Bombus spp. Latreille), whereas non-Bombus densities were only driven by the local flower cover of SNH. High landscape diversity enhanced wild bee species richness. Faba bean cultivation enhanced the proportions of social wild bees, bees foraging on Fabaceae and slightly of long-tongued bumblebees. Solitary bee proportions increased with high covers of OSR. High local SNH flower covers mitigated changes of mean bee sizes caused by faba bean cultivation. Conclusions Our results show that MFC support specific functional bee groups adapted to their flower morphology and can alter pollinators` functional trait composition. We conclude that management practices need to target the cultivation of functionally diverse crops, combined with high local flower covers of diverse SNH to create heterogeneous landscapes, which sustain diverse pollinator communities.

scholarly journals High honeybee abundances reduce wild bee abundances on flowers in the city of Munich

Oecologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne S. Renner ◽  
Marie Sophie Graf ◽  
Zoe Hentschel ◽  
Helen Krause ◽  
Andreas Fleischmann
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Adjacent Area ◽  
Exploitative Competition ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Urban Garden ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
June July ◽  
The City ◽  
Clear Support

AbstractThe increase in managed honeybees (Apis mellifera) in many European cities has unknown effects on the densities of wild bees through competition. To investigate this, we monitored honeybees and non-honeybees from 01 April to 31 July 2019 and 2020 at 29 species of plants representing diverse taxonomic and floral-functional types in a large urban garden in the city of Munich in which the same plant species were cultivated in both years. No bee hives were present in the focal garden, and all bee hives in the adjacent area were closely monitored by interviewing the relevant bee keepers in both 2019 and 2020. Honeybee numbers were similar in April of both years, but increased from May to July 2020 compared to 2019. The higher densities correlated with a significant increase in shifts from wild bee to honeybee visits in May/June/July, while visitor spectra in April 2019 and 2020 remained the same. Most of the species that experienced a shift to honeybee visits in 2020 were visited mostly or exclusively for their nectar. There were no shifts towards increased wild bee visits in any species. These results from a flower-rich garden have implications for the discussion of whether urban bee keeping might negatively impact wild bees. We found clear support that high honeybee densities result in exploitative competition at numerous types of flowers.

scholarly journals Improving Habitat Quality at the Local and Landscape Scales Increases Wild Bee Assemblages and Associated Pollination Services in Apple Orchards in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panlong Wu ◽  
Piaopiao Dai ◽  
Meina Wang ◽  
Sijie Feng ◽  
Aruhan Olhnuud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Bee Diversity ◽  
Landscape Scales

Bees provide key pollination services for a wide range of crops. Accumulating evidence shows the effect of semi-natural habitats at the landscape level and local management practices on bee diversity in fields. However, most of the evidence is derived from studies in North America and Europe. Whether this paradigm is applicable in China, which is characterized by smallholder-dominated agricultural landscapes, has rarely been studied. In this study, we aimed to investigate how bee diversity affected apple production, and how landscape and local variables affected bee diversity and species composition on the Northern China Plain. The results showed that bees significantly increased apple fruit set compared to bagged controls. Wild bee diversity was positively related to apple seed numbers. Higher seed numbers reduced the proportion of deformed apples and thus increased fruit quality. Wild bee abundance was positively correlated with flowering ground cover, and both the abundance and species richness of wild bees were positively affected by the percentage of semi-natural habitats. We conclude that apple quality can benefit from ecological intensification comprising the augmentation of wild bees by semi-natural habitats and flowering ground cover. Future pollination management should therefore reduce the intensification level of management at both the local and landscape scales.

scholarly journals Polinização de Vellozia candida Mikan (Velloziaceae) nos Afloramentos Rochosos do Costão de Itacoatiara, Niterói, RJ: Um Caso de Melitofilia em Inselbergue do Brasil

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Fábio Castro Verçoza
Keyword(s):  
Floral Biology ◽  
Pollination Ecology ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Flowering Period ◽  
Rock Outcrops ◽  
Floral Visitors ◽  
Rocky Outcrops ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Effective Pollinator

Este trabalho apresenta dados sobre a fenologia reprodutiva, a biologia floral e a ecologia da polinização de Vellozia candida Mikan (Velloziaceae) nos afloramentos rochosos do Costão de Itacoatiara, Niterói, RJ. Uma população de dez indivíduos da espécie foi estudada nessa localidade no período de junho de 2006 a dezembro de 2008. Foram realizadas observações sobre período de floração, morfologia, cor e odor das flores, ocorrência e comportamento dos visitantes florais. A floração de V. candida ocorreu de setembro a dezembro nos dois anos consecutivos do estudo. As flores são brancas, nectaríferas e exalam odor suave e adocicado. Reúnem características típicas da síndrome da melitofilia e foram intensamente visitadas por três espécies de abelhas. Xylocopa ordinaria Smith se destacou como o polinizador efetivo da espécie estudada. Por ser uma abelha de grande porte e robusta, durante a coleta de néctar e de pólen, deposita este último no estigma, polinizando as flores. Pollination of Vellozia candida Mikan (Velloziaceae) on Rock Outcrops of Costão de Itacoatiara, Niterói, RJ: A Case of Mellitophily Inselberg BrazilAbstract. This paper presents data on the reproductive phenology, floral biology and pollination ecology of Vellozia candida Mikan (Velloziaceae) on rocky outcrops of Costão Itacoatiara, Niterói, RJ. A population of ten individuals of the species was studied in this location from June 2006 to December 2008. Observations were made on flowering period, morphology, color and odor of flowers, the occurrence and behavior of floral visitors. The flowering of V. candida occurred from September to December in two successive years of study. The flowers are white, exude nectar and sweet odor. Meet typical syndrome melitophyly and were intensively visited by three species of bees. Xylocopa ordinaria Smith stood out as the effective pollinator of the species studied. Being a bee large and robust, while collecting nectar and pollen, the latter deposited on the stigma, pollinating the flowers.

scholarly journals Assessing wild bee diversity using next generation sequencing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Morgan Gueuning
Keyword(s):  
Next Generation Sequencing ◽  
Dna Barcoding ◽  
Species Delimitation ◽  
Morphological Identification ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Generation Sequencing

Wild bees are essential pollinators and therefore play a key role in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. However, bees have often been neglected in conservation studies and policies worldwide, which is surprising given their ecological importance. As a result, little is known on the conservation status of the vast majority of wild bee species in Europe, and even less worldwide. Limited surveys suggest important declines in the abundance and diversity of most wild bee communities worldwide. It is therefore urgent to implement targeted measures for the conservation of these keystone species. Once implemented, the effectiveness of these measures must be evaluated using adequate monitoring programs. To date, wild bee surveys are entirely based on morphological identification, which is both labor intensive and time consuming. Consequently, an affordable, high-throughput identification method is needed to reduce costs and improve bee monitoring. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate novel genetic techniques based on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) methods for facilitating surveys of wild bees. NGS tools were mainly investigated for bridging two important impediments to wild bee conservation efforts, i.e., the cost of biodiversity assessment schemes and taxonomic incompleteness. With the development of NGS techniques, DNA barcoding has gained enormous momentum, enabling cost-effective, fast and accurate identifications. Before these methods can be routinely used in monitoring programs, there are however still important knowledge gaps to fill. These gaps mainly concern the detection of rare species and the acquisition of accurate quantitative data on species abundance; more generally the cost and labour effectiveness of these methods need to be evaluated. To provide a comprehensive presentation of the advantages and weaknesses of different NGS-based identification methods, we assessed three of the most promising ones, namely metabarcoding, mitogenomics and NGS barcoding. Using a regular monitoring data, we found that NGS barcoding performed best for both species’ presence/absence and abundance data, producing only few false positives and no false negatives. The other methods investigated were less reliable in term of species detection and inference of abundance data, and partly led to erroneous ecological conclusions. In terms of workload and cost, we showed that NGS techniques were more expensive than morphological identification with our dataset, although these techniques would become slightly more economical in large-scale monitoring programs. A second aim of this thesis was to provide an easy and robust genomic solution to alleviate taxonomical incompleteness, one of the major impediments to the effective conservation of many insect taxa. For conservation purposes, having stable and well-delimited species hypotheses is essential. Currently, most species are delimitated based on morphology and/or DNA barcoding. These methods are however associated with important limitations, and it is widely accepted that species delimitation should rely on multi-locus genomic markers. To overcome these limitations, ultraconserved elements (UCEs) were tested as a fast and robust approach using different species-complexes harbouring cryptic diversity, mitochondrial introgression, or mitochondrial paraphyly. Phylogenetic analyses of UCEs were highly conclusive and yielded meaningful species delimitation hypotheses in all cases. These results provide strong evidence for the potential of UCEs as a fast method for delimiting species even in cases of recently diverged lineages. Advantages and limitations of UCEs for shallow phylogenetic studies are further discussed.

scholarly journals Wild Bee Toxicity Data for Pesticide Risk Assessments

Data ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen A Lewis ◽  
John Tzilivakis
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Dietary Exposure ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Toxicity Data ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Pollinating Insects ◽  
Regulatory Risk Assessment

Pollination services are vital for agriculture, food security and biodiversity. Although many insect species provide pollination services, honeybees are thought to be the major provider of this service to agriculture. However, the importance of wild bees in this respect should not be overlooked. Whilst regulatory risk assessment processes have, for a long time, included that for pollinators, using honeybees (Apis mellifera) as a protective surrogate, there are concerns that this approach may not be sufficiently adequate particularly because of global declines in pollinating insects. Consequently, risk assessments are now being expanded to include wild bee species such as bumblebees (Bombus spp.) and solitary bees (Osmia spp.). However, toxicity data for these species is scarce and are absent from the main pesticide reference resources. The aim of the study described here was to collate data relating to the acute toxicity of pesticides to wild bee species (both topical and dietary exposure) from published regulatory documents and peer reviewed literature, and to incorporate this into one of the main online resources for pesticide risk assessment data: The Pesticide Properties Database, thus ensuring that the data is maintained and continuously kept up to date. The outcome of this study is a dataset collated from 316 regulatory and peer reviewed articles that contains 178 records covering 120 different pesticides and their variants which includes 142 records for bumblebees and a further 115 records for other wild bee species.

scholarly journals The best wildflowers for wild bees

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 819-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel N. Nichols ◽  
Dave Goulson ◽  
John M. Holland
Keyword(s):  
Native Bees ◽  
Convolvulus Arvensis ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Pollinator Abundance ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Anthyllis Vulneraria ◽  
Important Food Source ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Species Being

Abstract Governmental agri-environment schemes (AES) aim to improve pollinator abundance and diversity on farmland by sowing wildflower seed mixes. These often contain high proportions of Fabaceae, particularly Trifolium (clovers), which are attractive to some bumblebee species, but not to most of the ~ 240 solitary bee species in the UK. Here we identify wildflowers that are attractive to a greater range of wild bee species. Forty-five wildflower species being farmed for commercial seed production on a single farm were surveyed for native bees. Bee walks were conducted through discrete wildflower areas from April until August in 2018. The results indicate that including a range of Apiaceae, Asteraceae, and Geraniaceae in seed mixes would cater for a wide diversity of bee species. A total of 14 wildflower species across nine families attracted 37 out of the 40 bee species recorded on the farm, and accounted for 99.7% of all visitations. Only two of these 14 species are included in current AES pollinator mixes. Unexpectedly, few visits were made by bumblebees to Trifolium spp. (0.5%), despite their being considered an important food source for bumblebees, while Anthyllis vulneraria and Geranium pratense were highly attractive. For solitary bees, Crepis capillaris, Sinapsis arvensis, Convolvulus arvensis and Chaerophyllum temulum were amongst the best performing species, none of which are usually included in sown flower mixes. We suggest that the standard ‘pollinator’ mixes used in AES might be updated to include some of these wildflower species, and trialled as seed mixes on farmland.

scholarly journals Noncrop Habitat Use by Wild Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in a Mixed-Use Agricultural Landscape

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 502-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Du Clos ◽  
Francis A Drummond ◽  
Cynthia S Loftin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Lowbush Blueberry ◽  
Mixed Use ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Bee Communities ◽  
Bee Abundance

Abstract Homogeneous, agriculturally intense landscapes have abundant records of pollinator community research, though similar studies in the forest-dominated, heterogeneous mixed-use landscape that dominates the northeastern United States are sparse. Trends of landscape effects on wild bees are consistent across homogeneous agricultural landscapes, whereas reported studies in the northeastern United States have not found this consistency. Additionally, the role of noncrop habitat in mixed-use landscapes is understudied. We assessed wild bee communities in the mixed-use lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) production landscape of Maine, United States at 56 sites in eight land cover types across two regional landscapes and analyzed effects of floral resources, landscape pattern, and spatial scale on bee abundance and species richness. Within survey sites, cover types with abundant floral resources, including lowbush blueberry fields and urban areas, promoted wild bee abundance and diversity. Cover types with few floral resources such as coniferous and deciduous/mixed forest reduced bee abundance and species richness. In the surrounding landscape, lowbush blueberry promoted bee abundance and diversity, while emergent wetland and forested land cover strongly decreased these measures. Our analysis of landscape configuration revealed that patch mixing can promote wild bee abundance and diversity; however, this was influenced by strong variation across our study landscape. More surveys at intra-regional scales may lead to better understanding of the influence of mixed-use landscapes on bee communities.

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