Life Sciences Commons^™

Geographic Variation In Blue Orchard Bee (Osmia Lignaria) Development And Performance As A Managed Pollinator In The Western United States, Morgan B. Scalici

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Most flowering plants, including many cultivated food crops, will only produce well-developed fruits and seeds if pollen is transferred from one flower to another with the help of an animal pollinator. Honey bees are the most well-known and ubiquitous but are poor pollinators of some commercially important crops, or are in poor supply during crop bloom. In such cases, farmers will employ other managed pollinators such as bumble bees or solitary bees like mason and leafcutting bees. The blue orchard bee is North America's most agriculturally important native mason bee as effective pollinators of spring-blooming fruit crops. Differences in developmental …