Location: Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research
Project Number: 2080-21000-019-004-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Apr 1, 2020
End Date: Sep 30, 2023
Objective:
1. To determine the effects of spring storage temperature changes and duration during development on reproductive fitness and adult M. rotundata physiology and morphology.
Subobjective 1a. Perform experiments to examine impacts of spring storage length on (1) reproductive fitness in the field, (2) flight physiology, and (3) internal morphology.
Approach:
Prepupae of alfalfa leafcutting bees will be exposed to two different types of low temperature stressors, including a fluctuating (FTR) and a static (STR) thermal regime. After emergence, the bees will be examined for morphological changes, and normal bees put into field cages or used in lab experiments. In field cages, the bees will be allowed to nest and the success and outcome of the progeny evaluated. In lab experiments, the flight physiology of the adult bees from different treatments will be examined. The internal morphology of the adults bees from different treatments will be determined using computerized tomography.
