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A Brief Review Of Monolecty In Bees And Benefits Of A Broadened Definition, James H. Cane Jun 2020

A Brief Review Of Monolecty In Bees And Benefits Of A Broadened Definition, James H. Cane

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Monolecty in bees was defined a century ago for those species that consistently collect pollen only from the same single species of floral host. Even at the time, the term was considered “a curiosity” with little biological meaning. Here, I review its multiple problems and suggest that its utility would improve if we apply the term monolecty to those bees species that use a single genus (not species) of flowering host.


The First Gynandromorph Of The Neotropical Bee Megalopta Amoena (Spinola, 1853) (Halictidae) With Notes On Its Circadian Rhythm, Erin Krichilsky, Álvaro Vega-Hidalgo, Kate Hunter, Callum Kingwell, Chelsey Ritner, William Wcislo, Adam Smith Feb 2020

The First Gynandromorph Of The Neotropical Bee Megalopta Amoena (Spinola, 1853) (Halictidae) With Notes On Its Circadian Rhythm, Erin Krichilsky, Álvaro Vega-Hidalgo, Kate Hunter, Callum Kingwell, Chelsey Ritner, William Wcislo, Adam Smith

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Gynandromorphy is an anomaly that results in an organism phenotypically expressing both male and female characteristics. Here we describe the first gynandromorph of the bee species Megalopta amoena (Spinola, 1853) (Halictidae, Augochlorini) and the second record of this anomaly within the genus Megalopta. Additionally, we analyzed the bee’s circadian rhythm, which has never before been quantified for a gynandromorph. The gynandromorph showed a deviant activity pattern; it was intermediate between that of the male and female M. amoena. Our results imply that the brains of bilateral gynandromorphs may have mixed sex-specific signaling. Based on four days of recording, …


Wild Bee Diversity Increases With Local Fire Severity In A Fire‐Prone Landscape, Sara M. Galbraith, James H. Cane, Andrew R. Moldenke, James W. Rivers Apr 2019

Wild Bee Diversity Increases With Local Fire Severity In A Fire‐Prone Landscape, Sara M. Galbraith, James H. Cane, Andrew R. Moldenke, James W. Rivers

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As wildfire activity increases in many regions of the world, it is imperative that we understand how key components of fire‐prone ecosystems respond to spatial variation in fire characteristics. Pollinators provide a foundation for ecological communities by assisting in the reproduction of native plants, yet our understanding of how pollinators such as wild bees respond to variation in fire severity is limited, particularly for forest ecosystems. Here, we took advantage of a natural experiment created by a large‐scale, mixed‐severity wildfire to provide the first assessment of how wild bee communities are shaped by fire severity in mixed‐conifer forest. We sampled …


Wild Bees Of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Richness, Abundance, And Spatio-Temporal Beta-Diversity, Olivia Messinger Carril, Terry Griswold, James Haefner, Joseph S. Wilson Nov 2018

Wild Bees Of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Richness, Abundance, And Spatio-Temporal Beta-Diversity, Olivia Messinger Carril, Terry Griswold, James Haefner, Joseph S. Wilson

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Interest in bees has grown dramatically in recent years in light of several studies that have reported widespread declines in bees and other pollinators. Investigating declines in wild bees can be difficult, however, due to the lack of faunal surveys that provide baseline data of bee richness and diversity. Protected lands such as national monuments and national parks can provide unique opportunities to learn about and monitor bee populations dynamics in a natural setting because the opportunity for large-scale changes to the landscape are reduced compared to unprotected lands. Here we report on a 4-year study of bees in Grand …


South American Leaf-Cutter Bees (Genus Megachile) Of The Subgenera Rhyssomegachile And Zonomegachile, With Two New Subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), Víctor H. González, Terry Griswold, Michael S. Engel Nov 2018

South American Leaf-Cutter Bees (Genus Megachile) Of The Subgenera Rhyssomegachile And Zonomegachile, With Two New Subgenera (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), Víctor H. González, Terry Griswold, Michael S. Engel

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Leaf-cutter bees (genus Megachile Latreille) are among the most common and diverse group of bees. However, the identity and taxonomic placement of many species are problematic and species identification is often difficult. Some species are known only from a single specimen or from one of the sexes, and identification keys are not available for many groups. We address these taxonomic issues for the subgenera Rhyssomegachile Mitchell and Zonomegachile Mitchell, two poorly known South American lineages of leaf-cutter bees. We provide comparative diagnoses, redescriptions, illustrated identification keys, new geographical records, and designate needed neotypes for Megachile cara Mitchell, M. gigas Schrottky, …


Quaternary Climate Instability Is Correlated With Patterns Of Population Genetic Variability In Bombus Huntii, Jonathan B. Koch, Rémy Vandame, Jorge Mérida-Rivas, Philippe Sagot, James Strange Jul 2018

Quaternary Climate Instability Is Correlated With Patterns Of Population Genetic Variability In Bombus Huntii, Jonathan B. Koch, Rémy Vandame, Jorge Mérida-Rivas, Philippe Sagot, James Strange

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Climate oscillations have left a significant impact on the patterns of genetic diversity observed in numerous taxa. In this study, we examine the effect of Quaternary climate instability on population genetic variability of a bumble bee pollinator species, Bombus huntii in western North America. Pleistocene and contemporary B. huntii habitat suitability (HS) was estimated with an environmental niche model (ENM) by associating 1,035 locality records with 10 bioclimatic variables. To estimate genetic variability, we genotyped 380 individuals from 33 localities at 13 microsatellite loci. Bayesian inference was used to examine population structure with and without a priori specification of geographic …


The Truncated Bell: An Enigmatic But Pervasive Elevational Diversity Pattern In Middle American Ants, John T. Longino, Michael G. Branstetter May 2018

The Truncated Bell: An Enigmatic But Pervasive Elevational Diversity Pattern In Middle American Ants, John T. Longino, Michael G. Branstetter

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Studies on elevation gradients in Panama and Costa Rica have shown that leaf-litter ants exhibit a mid-elevation peak in diversity. This diversity pattern has been observed in other groups and regions, but uncertainty remains as to just how pervasive it is and what might explain it. Here we examine the robustness of the mid-elevation peak in ant diversity across the entire Middle American corridor, from Veracruz, Mexico, to Costa Rica. We sampled 56 sites distributed throughout Middle America. All were in closed-canopy evergreen wet forest, spanning 11° latitude, from near sea level to 2600 m elevation. Ants were extracted from …


On The Identity Of The Adventive Species Of Eufriesea Cockerell In The Usa: Systematics And Potential Distribution Of The Coerulescens Species Group (Hymenoptera, Apidae), Victor H. Gonzalez, Terry Griswold, Marianna Simões Apr 2017

On The Identity Of The Adventive Species Of Eufriesea Cockerell In The Usa: Systematics And Potential Distribution Of The Coerulescens Species Group (Hymenoptera, Apidae), Victor H. Gonzalez, Terry Griswold, Marianna Simões

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In the summer of 2010, two male specimens of the neotropical orchid bee genus Eufriesea Cockerell were collected in the Guadalupe Mountains of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico, USA. We tentatively identified them as E. coerulescens (Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau) because of the uncertainty surrounding the limits of this taxon and hypothesized that they were members of a persistent bee population, rather than long-distance transient vagrants. The goals of this paper are to clarify the identity of these specimens, assess the species limits of E. coerulescens, and to evaluate suitability of habitats in the USA for this adventive …