Bumble bee

Wild bumble bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) play a vital role in agro-ecosystems as important pollinators. However, they are threatened by virus pathogens that are widespread in honey bees. Previous studies have reported that viruses were able to be transmitted across bee genera and caused potential danger to wild bumble bees. China is a global biodiversity hotspot for bumble bees. However, the impact of viruses on the wild bumble bee communities remains elusive. Black queen cell virus (BQCV) is one of the most common honey bee viruses...

Bumble bees are common in cooler climates and many species likely experience periodic exposure to very cold temperatures, but little is known about the temporal dynamics of cold response mechanisms following chill exposure, especially how persistent effects of cold exposure may facilitate tolerance of future events. To investigate molecular processes involved in the temporal response by bumble bees to acute cold exposure, we compared mRNA transcript abundances in Bombus impatiens workers exposed to 0°C for 75 minutes (inducing chill coma) and control bees maintained at a constant ambient temperature (28°C)...

Declines in bumble bee species range and abundances are documented across multiple continents and have prompted the need for research to aid species recovery and conservation. The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is the first federally listed bumble bee species in North America. We conducted a range-wide population genetics study of B. affinis from across all extant conservation units to inform conservation efforts. To understand the species' vulnerability and help establish recovery targets, we examined population structure, patterns of genetic diversity, and population differentiation...

The increase in studies on bee microbiomes is prompted by concerns over global pollinator declines. Bumble bees host core and non-core microbiota which may contribute to increased lifetime fitness. The presence of Fructobacillus in the gut microbiomes of bumble bee workers, or the replacement of core symbionts with Fructobacillus bacteria, has been considered a marker of dysbiosis. A phylogenomic analysis and functional genomic characterization of the genomes of 21 Fructobacillus isolates from bumble bees demonstrated that they represented four species, i...

QUESTION: The large earth bumble bee ( Bombus terrestris ) maintains a social core gut-microbiota, similar as known from the honey bee, which plays an important role for host health and resistance. Experiments under laboratory conditions with commercial hives are limited to vertically transmitted microbes and neglect influences of environmental factors or external acquisition of microbes. Various environmental and landscape-level factors may have an impact on the gut-microbiota of pollinating insects, with consequences for pollinator health and fitness in agroecosystems...

Resource partitioning is considered a key factor in alleviating competitive interactions, enabling coexistence among consumer species. However, most studies have focused on resource partitioning between species, ignoring the potentially critical role of intraspecific variation in resource use. We investigated floral resource partitioning across species, colonies, and individuals in a species-rich bumblebee community in the diversification center of bumblebees. We used a total of 10,598 bumblebees belonging to 13 species across 5 years in the Hengduan Mountains of southwest China...

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We aimed to investigate the roles of dopamine in regulating caste-specific behaviors in bumble bees and mating-related behaviors in bumble bee gynes. We examined caste differences in behaviors, biogenic amine levels, and expression levels of genes encoding dopamine receptors in the brains of bumble bees, and analyzed the effects of dopamine-related drugs on bumble bee behavior. Locomotor and flight activities were significantly higher in 8-day-old gynes and light avoidance was significantly lower in 4-8-day-old gynes than in same-aged workers...

Bumble bees are important pollinators in natural environments and agricultural farmlands, and they are in particular adapted to harsh environments like high mountain habitats. In these environments, animals are exposed to low temperature and face the risk of desiccation. The Eastern Himalayas are one of the recognized biodiversity hotspots worldwide. The area covers subtropical rainforest with warm temperature and high precipitation as well as high mountain ranges with peaks reaching up to 7,000 m, shaping a diverse floral and faunal community at the different elevational zones...

Urbanization is commonly associated with biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. However, urban environments often have greenspaces that can support wildlife populations, including rare species. The challenge for conservation planners working in these systems is identifying priority habitats and corridors for protection before they are lost. In a rapidly changing urban environment, this requires prompt decisions informed by accurate spatial information. Here, we combine several approaches to map habitat and assess connectivity for a diverse set of rare species in seven urban study areas across southern Michigan, USA...

Wildflower plantings adjacent to agricultural fields provide diverse floral resources and nesting sites for wild bees. However, their proximity to pest control activities in the crop may result in pesticide exposure if pesticides drift into pollinator plantings. To quantify pesticide residues in pollinator plantings, we sampled flowers and soil from pollinator plantings and compared them to samples from unenhanced field margins and crop row middles. At conventionally managed farms, flowers from pollinator plantings had similar exposure profiles to those from unenhanced field margins or crop row middles, with multiple pesticides and high and similar risk quotient (RQ) values (with pollinator planting RQ: 3...

Pollinators are vital for food security and the maintenance of terrestrial ecosystems. Bumblebees are important pollinators across northern temperate, arctic, and alpine ecosystems, yet are in decline across the globe. Vairimorpha bombi is a parasite belonging to the fungal class Microsporidia that has been implicated in rapid declines of bumblebees in North America, where it may be an emerging infectious disease. To investigate the evolutionary basis of pathogenicity of V. bombi, we sequenced and assembled its genome using Oxford Nanopore and Illumina technologies and performed phylogenetic and genomic evolutionary analyses...

The listing of Bombus affinis Cresson 1863 (Rusty Patched Bumble Bee; RPBB) in 2017 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) created a regulatory need for assessment methods, in order to limit take of this species by construction and development. As the first social insect listed under the ESA, the listing of RPBB has required new methods for biological assessment. This species has a complex life cycle requiring a mosaic of different habitat types, with each life cycle stage facing unique challenges and threats...

Evidence for a trade-off between reproduction and immunity has manifested in many animal species, including social insects. However, investigations in social insect queens present a conundrum: new gynes of many social hymenopterans, such as bumble bees and ants, must first mate, then transition from being solitary to social as they establish their nests, thus experiencing confounding shifts in environmental conditions. Worker bumble bees offer an opportunity to investigate patterns of immune protein expression associated with ovary activation while minimizing extraneous environmental factors and genetic differences...

Social bees are frequently exposed to pesticides when foraging on nectar and pollen. Recent research has shown that pesticide exposure not only impacts social bee host health but can also alter the community structure of social bee gut microbiotas. However, most research on pesticide-bee gut microbiota interactions has been conducted in honey bees; bumble bees, native North American pollinators, have received less attention and, due to differences in their ecology, may be exposed to certain pesticides for shorter durations than honey bees...

Metal contamination is ubiquitous in urban areas and represents a risk to arthropod species. Bees are exposed to metals while foraging within contaminated landscapes from multiple sources. Eliminating the risk of bee exposure to metals is complex, and requires an understanding of how bees become contaminated, how metals accumulate within bee bodies, and how this exposure influences their health. We selected Bombus impatiens, the common eastern bumble bee, as our focal species because it is the most frequently encountered bumble bee species in the eastern United States and common within urban greenspaces...

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is a key vector of the phloem-limited bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) associated with huanglongbing (HLB), the most serious and currently incurable disease of citrus worldwide. Here we report the first investigation into the potential use of a spider venom-derived recombinant neurotoxin, ω/κ-HxTx-Hv1h (hereafter HxTx-Hv1h) when delivered alone or when fused to snowdrop lectin (Galanthus nivalis agglutinin; GNA) to control D...

Pollinators face many stressors, including reduced floral diversity. A low-diversity diet can impair organisms' ability to cope with additional stressors, such as pathogens, by altering the gut microbiome and/or immune function, but these effects are understudied for most pollinators. We investigated the impact of pollen diet diversity on two ecologically and economically important generalist pollinators, the social bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) and the solitary alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata)...

The ongoing global decline of bees threatens biodiversity and food safety as both wild plants and crops rely on bee pollination to produce viable progeny or high-quality products in high yields. Pesticide exposure is a major driving force for the decline, yet pesticide use remains unreconciled with bee conservation since studies demonstrate that bees continue to be heavily exposed to and threatened by pesticides in crops and natural habitats. Pharmaceutical methods, including the administration of phytochemicals, probiotics (beneficial bacteria), and recombinant proteins (enzymes) with detoxification functions, show promise as potential solutions to mitigate pesticide poisonings...

In the European registration process, pesticides are currently mainly tested on the honey bee. Since sensitivity data for other bee species are lacking for the majority of xenobiotics, it is unclear if and to which extent this model species can adequately serve as surrogate for all wild bees. Here, we investigated the effects of field-realistic contact exposure to a pyrethroid insecticide, containing lambda-cyhalothrin, on seven bee species (Andrena vaga, Bombus terrestris, Colletes cunicularius, Osmia bicornis, Osmia cornuta, Megachile rotundata, Apis mellifera) with different life history characteristics in a series of laboratory trials over two years...