A novel method to measure hairiness in bees and other insect pollinators.

ABSTRACT: Hairiness is a salient trait of insect pollinators that has been linked to thermoregulation, pollen uptake and transportation, and pollination success. Despite its potential importance in pollination ecology, hairiness is rarely included in pollinator trait analyses. This is likely due to the lack of standardized and efficient methods to measure hairiness. We describe a novel methodology that uses a stereomicroscope equipped with a live measurement module software to quantitatively measure two components of hairiness: hair density and hair length. We took measures of the two hairiness components in 109 insect pollinator species (including 52 bee species). We analyzed the relationship between hair density and length and between these two components and body size. We combined hair density an

SUBMITTER: Roquer-Beni L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7083657 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature