when pollinator species declineremove even one bumblebee species from an ecosystem and the impact is swift and clear:
The study to be published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences focused on the interactions between bumblebees and larkspur wildflowers in Colorado's Rocky mountains.
We found that these wildflowers produce one-third fewer seeds in the absence of just one bumblebee species says Emory University ecologist Berry Brosi who led the study.
Located at 9500 feet the facility's subalpine meadows are too high for honeybees but they are buzzing during the summer months with bumblebees.
The experiments focused on the interactions of the insects with larkspurs dark-purple wildflowers that are visited by 10 of the of the 11 bumblebee species there.
The researchers studied a series of 20-meter square wildflower plots evaluating each one in both a control state left in its natural condition
which they used nets to remove the bumblebees of just one species. The researchers then observed the bumblebee behavior in both the controlled plots
We'd literally follow around the bumblebees as they foraged Briggs says. It's challenging
Running around after bumblebees in these beautiful wildflower meadows was one of the most fun parts of the research Brosi says.
so that researchers don't have a negative impact on the bumblebee populations. When we caught bees to remove target species from the system
Bumblebees are quite gentle on the whole. Across the steps of the pollination process from patterns of bumblebee visits to plants to picking up pollen to seed production the researchers saw a cascading effect of removing one bee species
. While about 78 percent of the bumblebees in the control groups were faithful to a single species of flower only 66 percent of the bumblebees in the manipulated groups showed such floral fidelity.
The reduced fidelity in manipulated plots meant that bees in the manipulated groups carried more different types of pollen on their bodies than those in the control groups.
when one of the bumblebee species was removed compared to the larkspurs in the control groups.
While previous research has shown how competition drives specialization within a species the bumblebee study is one of the first to link this mechanism back to the broader functioning of an ecosystem.
Deltamethrin fipronil and spinosad widely used pesticides in agriculture and home pest control were applied to healthy honeybees and proved toxic to some degree irrespective of dosage.
#Bees under threat from disease-carrying bumblebee imports, research revealsstricter controls over bumblebee imports to the UK are required urgently to prevent diseases spreading to native bumblebees
and honeybees scientists have warned. The call follows the discovery of parasites in over three-quarters of imported bumblebee colonies they tested.
The study-the first of its kind in the UK-is published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
While wild species of bees and other insects pollinate many crops commercially-reared and imported bumblebees are essential for pollination of greenhouse crops such as tomatoes.
They are used also to enhance pollination of other food crops such as strawberries and are marketed now for use in people s gardens.
40-50000 commercially-produced bumblebee colonies#each containing up to 100 worker bees#are imported annually to the UK
The team of researchers from the universities of Leeds Stirling and Sussex bought 48 colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) from three European producers.
Screening revealed that the imported bumblebee colonies carried a range of parasites including the three main bumblebee parasites (Crithidia bombi Nosema bombi and Apicystis bombi) three honeybee parasites (Nosema
apis Ascosphaera apis and Paenibacillus larvae) and two parasites which infect both bumblebees and honeybees (Nosema ceranae and deformed wing virus). After the screening tests the team conducted a series of carefully controlled laboratory experiments to find out
whether the parasites carried by the commercially-produced bumblebee colonies were viable and able to infect other bees.
Lead author of the study Peter Graystock of the University of Leeds explains:##oewe found that commercially-produced bumblebee colonies contained a variety of microbial parasites
which were infectious and harmful not only to other bumblebees but also to honeybees.##The results suggest current regulations
and protocols governing bumblebee imports are not effective. Currently Natural England licences are required only for the nonnative subspecies.
Although the licences require colonies to be disease free colonies arriving in the UK are screened not to ensure compliance
and the regulations do not apply to imports of the native subspecies. The study argues that producers need to improve disease screening
while regulatory authorities need to strengthen measures to prevent importation of parasite-carrying bumblebee colonies including checking bees on arrival in the UK
As well as increasing the prevalence of parasites in wild bumblebees and managed honeybees near farms using the commercially-produced bumblebees continuing to import bumblebee colonies that carry parasites is also likely to introduce new species
or strains of parasites into some areas the authors warn. According to co-author of the study Professor William Hughes of the University of Sussex:#
#oeif we don t act then the risk is that potentially tens of thousands of parasite-carrying bumblebee colonies may be imported into the UK each year and hundreds of thousands worldwide.
and Japan suggests that parasites introduced by commercial bumblebees may be a major cause of population declines of several bumblebee species including Bombus dahlbomii in Argentina and Bombus terricola and Bombus pensylvanicus in North america.
#Insecticide causes changes in honeybee genes, research findsnew research by academics at The University of Nottingham has shown that exposure to a neonicotinoid insecticide causes changes to the genes of the honeybee.
The study published in the online journal PLOS ONE supports the recent decision taken by the European commission to temporarily ban three neonicotinoids amid concerns that they could be linked to bee deaths.
There is growing evidence connecting the decline in the honeybee population that pollinates one-third of the food that we eat
and insecticides but this is the first comprehensive study to look at changes in the activity of honeybee genes linked to one of the recently banned neonicotinoids imidacloprid.
and showed that a very low exposure of just two parts per billion has an impact on the activity of some of the honeybee genes.
The researchers identified that cells of honeybee larvae had to work harder and increase the activity of genes involved in breaking down toxins most likely to cope with the insecticide.
This is a very significant piece of research which clearly shows clear changes in honeybee gene activity as a result of exposure to a pesticide
versus pattern position in a group of bumblebees that have searched never for nectar before i e. flower-naive bees.
#Bioenergy potential unearthed in leaf-cutter ant communitiesas spring warms up Wisconsin humans aren't the only ones tending their gardens.
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Bacteriology colonies of leaf-cutter ants cultivate thriving communities of fungi
In a symbiotic relationship L. gongylophorous provides food for the leaf-cutter ant Atta cephalotes by developing fruiting bodies rich in fats amino acids and other nutrients.
The researchers have a few leads in their investigation of the mysterious role of bacteria in leaf-cutter ant communities
however that both the beauty and the challenge of the leaf-cutter ant garden lie in its complexity.
The compounds we're using are not very toxic to honeybees fish and mammals but we need to refine them further make them more toxic to mosquitoes
The study published in the journal Ecology Letters found a 30 per cent fall in local bumblebee biodiversity in all three countries between the 1950s and the 1980s.
while in Belgium and The netherlands bumblebee diversity had stabilised. The picture was better for other wild bees with an 8 per cent reduction in diversity in The netherlands and a stable picture in Great britain turning into significant increases (7 per cent in The netherlands and 10
These measures have been taken in response to evidence that neonicotinoids are toxic to honeybees and are contributing to the decline of bee colonies.
But harm is only evident over a period of two weeks in bumblebees and is seen when you look at entire colonies.
He recently published a studyshowing neonicotinoids hit bumblebee colony growth and queen production. He also said:
Honeybees are known to incorporate antimicrobial resins into their nests. Analysis of the honeybee genome suggests that they lack many of the immune-system genes of other insects raising the possibility that honeybees'use of medicine has been partly responsible
--or has compensated--for a loss of other immune mechanisms. The authors also note that the study of animal medication will have direct relevance for human food production.
For example increases in parasitism and disease in honeybees can be linked to selection by beekeepers for reduced resin deposition by their bees.
#Let me introduce myself--leafcutter bee Megachile chomskyi from Texasthe Genus megachile is a cosmopolitan group of solitary bees often called leafcutter bees.
A new species Megachile chomskyi has been found only in Texas US. What is specific and interesting about this bee is the fact that it is among those insects
Unlike the other representatives of the family that chew leaves or flower petals many species of Megachile neatly cut circular pieces of leaves or petals for nest construction.
Nests of Megachile are constructed often within hollow twigs or other similarly constricted natural cavities but some species including members of the subgenus Megachiloides excavate burrows in the ground.
The subgenus Megachiloides still remains one of the most problematic Megachile groups in North america partially due to males
#Bumblebees use logic to find the best flowersscientists at Queen Mary University of London and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have discovered why bees copy each other
Most worker bees visit thousands of flowers every day in their search for nectar to feed their queen's brood.
Metals in flowers may play role in bumblebee declinebeekeepers and researchers nationally are reporting growing evidence that a powerful new class of pesticides may be killing off bumblebees.
Now research at the University of Pittsburgh points toward another potential cause: metal pollution from aluminum and nickel.
Published in the journal Environmental Pollution the Pitt study finds that bumblebees are at risk of ingesting toxic amounts of metals like aluminum
The Pitt study finds that bumblebees have the ability to taste --and later ignore--certain metals such as nickel
Beyond leading to mortality these metals can interfere with insect taste perception agility and working memory--all necessary attributes for busy bumblebee workers.
Ashman and George Meindl coauthor of the study and a Phd candidate in Ashman's lab studied bumblebee behavior using the Impatiens capensis a North american flower that blooms in summer.
Its flowers are large producing a high volume of sugar-rich nectar each day--an ideal place for bumblebees to forage.
and aluminum in the flowers'nectar influenced bumblebee behavior Ashman and Meindl used two groups of uncontaminated flowers one group of flowers contaminated by nickel and another contaminated by aluminum.
When a bumblebee visited a flower in an array the entire visitation was recorded as well as the time spent (in seconds) foraging on each individual flower.
However once bumblebees arrive at flowers and sample the nectar they are able to discriminate against certain metals.
The paper The effects of aluminum and nickel in nectar on the foraging behavior of bumblebees first appeared online March 6 in Environmental Pollution.
while at VIMS and is now at the University of California Davis. Think of how vital honeybees are for pollinating tree crops or
and another type of pesticide coumaphos that is used in honeybee hives to kill the Varroa mite a parasitic mite that attacks the honey bee.
when bees had been exposed to combinations of these pesticides for 4 days as many as 30%of honeybees failed to learn
Disruption in this important function has profound implications for honeybee colony survival because bees that cannot learn will not be able to find food.
However little consideration has been given to the miticidal pesticides introduced directly into honeybee hives to protect the bees from the Varroa mite.
We find that both have negative impact on honeybee brain function. Together these studies highlight potential dangers to pollinators of continued exposure to pesticides that target the insect nervous system and the importance of identifying combinations of pesticides that could profoundly impact pollinator survival.
but it seems honeybees also get their buzz from drinking flower nectar containing caffeine. Publishing in Science researchers have shown that caffeine improves a honeybee's memory
and could help the plant recruit more bees to spread its pollen. In tests honeybees feeding on a sugar solution containing caffeine
which occurs naturally in the nectar of coffee and citrus flowers were three times more likely to remember a flower's scent than those feeding on just sugar.
Study leader Dr Geraldine Wright Reader in Neuroethology at Newcastle University explained that the effect of caffeine benefits both the honeybee and the plant:
Just as black coffee has a strong bitter taste to us high concentrations of caffeine are repellent to honeybees.
Although human and honeybee brains obviously have lots of differences when you look at the level of cells proteins
Thus we can use the honeybee to investigate how caffeine affects our own brains and behaviours.
Understanding a honeybee's habits and preferences could help find ways to reinvigorate the species to protect our farming industry and countryside.
Bumblebees find and distinguish electric signals from flowersflowers'methods of communicating are sophisticated at least as as any devised by an advertising agency according to a new study published Feb 21 in Science Express by researchers from the University of Bristol.
The research shows for the first time that pollinators such as bumblebees are able to find and distinguish electric signals given out by flowers.
To their surprise the researchers discovered that bumblebees can detect and distinguish between different floral electric fields.
although the researchers speculate that hairy bumblebees bristle up under the electrostatic force just like one's hair in front of an old television screen.
Their observation of how patterns of pigmentation on flower petals influence bumblebees'behavior suggests that color veins give clues to the location of the nectar.
The authors looked at the ways in which these color veins influence bumblebee foraging behavior.
Iridescence in flowers may act as a signal to pollinators such as bumblebees which are crucial to crop production.
Pollinators such as bumblebees can detect the iridescent signal produced by petal nanoridges and can learn to use this signal as a cue to identify rewarding flowers.
#Preference for built-up habitats could explain rapid spread of tree bumblebee in UKTHE strikingly rapid spread of the Tree Bumblebee in Britain could be occurring
A new study published today shows that Tree Bumblebees are associated with built-up areas and that these areas form a large part of their habitat use.
These markedly different habitat and foraging preferences set this species apart from other common British bumblebee species
--which could explain how Tree Bumblebees have managed to colonize much of the UK while many other bumblebee species have been declining.
The Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) has spread to nearly all of England and Wales since its first appearance in southern England in 2001.
The research team recorded the bumblebee species and the flowering plants visited by the bees at a large number of sites across southern Norfolk including both urban and rural sites over a three month period.
When combined with landscape mapping data these observations revealed that the Tree Bumblebee was much more likely to be found in built-up areas and to a lesser extent areas with woodland nearby.
In contrast none of the other five bumblebee species studied shared the combination of favoured landscape features found in the Tree Bumblebee.
Additionally the Tree Bumblebee preferred to forage on a set of flowering plants different to the sets of plants favoured by the other bumblebee species being more likely to use some species of flowering trees
and thistles but less likely to use some common herbaceous flowers. The results are the first evidence that in its new range in the UK the Tree Bumblebee is associated with built-up areas such as towns and villages and that these areas form a large part of its habitat use.
An association between Tree Bumblebees and human habitation has previously been suspected from natural history observations. Along with an association with trees it is likely to stem from the Tree Bumblebee's habit of nesting in cavities above the ground
which is unusual among British bumblebees. Lead author Liam Crowther from UEA's School of Biological sciences said:
This research implies that the Tree Bumblebee's remarkable success is due in part to favouring a suite of resources different to those used by the bumblebee species that are already widespread in the UK.
While an association with human habitation has been suspected for some time this study provides clear evidence of this link
and suggests that urban and suburban areas may be facilitating the Tree Bumblebee's remarkably rapid natural colonization of the UK.
The Tree Bumblebee was recorded first in the UK in the New Forest in 2001 and has expanded since its range approximately 600 km northwards through most of England
and Wales and into southern Scotland a rate of expansion of nearly 50 km per yearin continental Europe and Asia however its range extends from western France to Japan and as far north as the Kola Peninsula in arctic
#Evolutionary history of honeybees revealed by genomicsin a study published in Nature Genetics researchers from Uppsala University present the first global analysis of genome variation in honeybees.
The findings show a surprisingly high level of genetic diversity in honeybees and indicate that the species most probably originates from Asia
The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is of crucial importance for humanity. One third of our food is dependent on the pollination of fruits nuts and vegetables by bees and other insects.
Extensive losses of honeybee colonies in recent years are a major cause for concern. Honeybees face threats from disease climate change and management practices.
To combat these threats it is important to understand the evolutionary history of honeybees and how they are adapted to different environments across the world.
We have used state-of-the-art high-throughput genomics to address these questions and have identified high levels of genetic diversity in honeybees.
In contrast to other domestic species management of honeybees seems to have increased levels of genetic variation by mixing bees from different parts of the world.
The findings may also indicate that high levels of inbreeding are not a major cause of global colony losses says Matthew Webster researcher at the department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology Uppsala University.
Another unexpected result was that honeybees seem to be derived from an ancient lineage of cavity-nesting bees that arrived from Asia around 300000 years ago and rapidly spread across Europe and Africa.
This stands in contrast to previous research that suggests that honeybees originate from Africa. The evolutionary tree we constructed from genome sequences does not support an origin in Africa this gives us new insight into how honeybees spread
and became adapted to habitats across the world says Matthew Webster. Hidden in the patterns of genome variation are signals that indicate large cyclical fluctuations in population size that mirror historical patterns of glaciation.
This indicates that climate change has impacted strongly honeybee populations historically. Populations in Europe appear to have contracted during ice ages
and adaptation to climate knowledge that could be vital for protecting honeybees in a rapidly changing world says Matthew Webster.
Virus infections after arrival of new parasitic mite in New zealand honeybee colonieshoneybee colonies are dying at alarming rates worldwide.
An article published on August 21st in PLOS Pathogens examines the viral landscape in honeybee colonies in New zealand after the recent arrival of the parasitic Varroa destructor mite.
and adult bees the mites can transmit several honeybee viruses with high efficiency. Uncontrolled Varroa infestation can thereby cause an accelerating virus epidemic and so kill a bee colony within two to three years.
As they report the arrival of Varroa dramatically changed the viral landscape within the honeybee colonies of New zealand.
However in contrast to DWV KBV abundance peaks two years after an initial Varroa infestation and subsequently disappears from the colonies entirely leaving DWV as the dominant honeybee virus in long-term Varroa-infested areas.
The researchers say that the results of their study strengthen the idea that the multiple virus infestations in honeybees interact to create a dynamic and turbulent pathological landscape
For example KBV could play a key role in the dramatic honeybee colony weakening observed during the first years of Varroa infestation.
#Fipronil, imidacloprid reduce honeybee mitochondrial activitynew research published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry addresses the effects of two broad-spectrum systemic insecticides fipornil and imidacloprid on honeybees.
These insecticides are used widely in agriculture and the authors conclude that fipronil and imidacloprid are inhibitors of mitochondrial bioenergetics resulting in depleted cell energy.
This action can explain the toxicity of these compounds for honeybees. Scientists are urgently trying to determine the causes of colony collapse disorder and the alarming population declines of honeybees.
The cross-pollination services they provide are required by approximately 80 percent of all flowering plants and 1/3 of all agricultural food production directly depends on bee pollination.
As a result there has been a flurry of research on honeybee parasitic mite infestations viral diseases and the direct and indirect impacts of pesticides.
In this study Nicodemo et al. looked at the effects of fipronil and imidacloprid on the bioenergetics functioning of mitochondria isolated from the heads and thoraces of Africanized honeybees.
Honeybee flight muscles are strongly dependent on high levels of oxygen consumption and energy metabolism. Mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation drives ATP synthesis which is required to contract the muscles during flight.
Similar to a plane honeybees require clean fuel in order to fly. Both fipronil and imidacloprid negatively affected the mitochondrial bioenergetics of the head and thorax of the honeybees.
While at sublethal levels insecticide damage may not be evident even such low level exposure clearly contributes to the inability of a honeybee to forage
and return to the hive which could result in declining bee populations. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
The study used bumblebee foragers housed under controlled conditions to test whether they do learn about flowers during pollen collection.
Their results show that bumblebees can individually assess pollen samples and discriminate between them during collection quickly forming preferences for a particular type of pollen.
Since bumblebees don't eat pollen when foraging it was unclear if or how they might be able to assess differences in quality.
and other stress factors in the environment possibly associated with honeybee dieoffs. said USGS scientist Kathryn Kuivila the research team leader.
and Sciences is the first to show that worker bees dissipate excess heat within a hive in process similar to how humans
When temperatures dip worker bees create heat by contracting their thoracic muscles similar to shivering in mammals.
Bonoan and Goldman collected data on seven active honeybee hives that were framed by clear Plexiglas walls.
As anticipated the worker bees pressed their bodies against the heated surfaces near the brood. Like insect sponges they absorbed the heat which lowered temperatures.
Long-tongued bees are often specialists favoring a few deep-throated flower species. In the bumblebee-sparse southern tip of Argentina for example Bombus dahlbomii the native long-tongued giant of Patagonia has lost ground
to a new bumblebee from Europe the short-tongued generalist Bombus terrestris imported to help pollinate tomatoes.
Although disease has played likely a role in the retreat of the long-tongued giant B. terrestris also appears to be out-competing an earlier European immigrant the long-tongued Bombus ruderatus.
Studya study co-authored by a University of Guelph scientist that involved fitting bumblebees with tiny radio frequency tags shows long-term exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide hampers bees'ability
which flowers worker bees chose to visit. Bees have to learn many things about their environment including how to collect pollen from flowers said Raine who holds the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation a Canadian first.
and pyrethroid (lambda cyhalothrin)--used alone or together on the behaviour of individual bumblebees from 40 colonies over four weeks.
The researchers suggest reform of pesticide regulations including adding bumblebees and solitary bees to risk assessments that currently cover only honeybees.
Bumblebees may be much more sensitive to pesticide impacts as their colonies contain a few hundred workers at most compared to tens of thousands in a honeybee colony Raine said.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Guelph. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Testing biological treatment for pathogens that are killing honeybees and batsa researcher at Georgia State university is studying a new biological treatment for bacterial and fungal pathogens that are killing honeybees and bats in record numbers.
Dr. Christopher Cornelison a postdoctoral researcher is testing how effective Rhodococcus rhodochrous a species of bacteria is in fighting pathogens affecting honeybees and bats.
In honeybees Chalkbrood disease has contributed to the number of managed honeybee colonies in the U s. being cut in half a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder.
Since 2006 White-Nose Syndrome has killed an estimated 7 million bats in North america the steepest wildlife decline in the past century.
Honeybees and bats are key to the ecosystem. One of every three bites of food in America is related to honeybee pollination according to the United states Department of agriculture.
Many crops such as almonds and other tree nuts berries fruits and vegetables depend on pollination by honeybees.
Bats play a crucial role in pest control. A single brown bat will eat its body mass equivalent in insects in one summer night Cornelison said.
In honeybees no negative effects were found in toxicity trials exposing bees to the bacteria in the air or in their honey.
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