Solitary bee larvae modify bacterial diversity of pollen provisions in the stem-nesting bee, Osmia cornifrons (Megachilidae).

ABSTRACT: Microbes, including diverse bacteria and fungi, play an important role in the health of both solitary and social bees. Among solitary bee species, in which larvae remain in a closed brood cell throughout development, experiments that modified or eliminated the brood cell microbiome through sterilization indicated that microbes contribute substantially to larval nutrition and are in some cases essential for larval development. To better understand how feeding larvae impact the microbial community of their pollen/nectar provisions, we examine the temporal shift in the bacterial community in the presence and absence of actively feeding larvae of the solitary, stem-nesting bee, Osmia cornifrons (Megachilidae). Our results indicate that the O. cornifrons brood cell bacteria

SUBMITTER: Kueneman JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9868615 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature