Abstract Detail

Ecology

Dobson, Heidi [1], Austin, Jessie [2], Barton, Catherine [2], Brodeck, Lindsey [2].

Do adult bees use the same flowers for pollen feeding as for pollen collecting?

Recent studies show that adult solitary bees consume pollen for their own sustenance in addition to collecting it to provision their nests, but comparisons of the floral sources used in these two different pollen foraging activities are lacking. To determine 1) if oligolectic bees display similar specialization in pollen consumption as they do in pollen collection and 2) to what extent individual females of polylectic species vary in the pollen that they consume and collect, floral identities of foraged pollen were examined in females of three oligolectic and one polylectic species. Pollen samples removed from the gut and scraped from scopal hairs were mounted in glycerine jelly and identified by comparison with reference pollen gathered in the field. The oligolectic bee species (Megachilidae) all consumed the same pollen that they collect for their nests, suggesting that the term oligolecty be extended to include specialization in pollen consumed by adults. Female bees of the polylectic species (Halictidae) varied widely in the composition of pollen consumed and collected, both within and between individuals, suggesting that each female establishes her own assemblage of plants visited for one or both activities. Differences in pollen sources used by a single female for her own feeding as opposed to nest provisioning raises questions of how females select pollen plants for each purpose.

1 - Whitman College, Department Of Biology, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA, 99362, United States
2 - Whitman College, Biology, 345 Boyer Ave, Walla Walla, WA, 99362, USA

Keywords:
bees
pollen
pollination
pollen feeding.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 14, Ecology Section - Reproductive Biology
Location: 106/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2018
Time: 4:15 PM
Number: 14011
Abstract ID:541
Candidate for Awards:None