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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #401080
Research Project: Sustainable Crop Production and Wildland Preservation through the Management, Systematics, and Conservation of a Diversity of Bees

Location: Pollinating Insect-Biology, Management, Systematics Research

Title: Calliopsis personata nests in bee beds managed for Nomia melanderi

Author
item Graham, Kelsey
item Steinmetz, Olivia
item Griswold, Terry

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Proceedings
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/8/2023
Publication Date: 7/9/2024
Citation: Graham, Kelsey K., Olivia Steinmetz, and Terry Griswold. "Observations of Calliopsis personata Cockerell, 1897 (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) nesting in bee beds managed for Nomia melanderi Cockerell, 1906 (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)." Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 125.4 (2024): 503-506.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.125.4.503

Interpretive Summary: Alkali bees, Nomia melanderi, are managed for pollination of alfalfa grown for seed. This includes constructing nesting beds for this ground nesting species adjacent to alfalfa fields. In June 2022, while working at alkali bee beds in the Touchet-Gardena-Lowden area of eastern Washington, we discovered an additional species, Calliopsis personata, nesting in two of the alkali bee beds. In this paper, we describe their nesting locations, the timing of observations, and identify the pollen collected by one nesting female. Nesting aggregates of C. personata were overlapping with alkali bees in both instances, and the one foraging female was collecting primarily willow (Salix sp.) pollen. This is a relatively rare species, and this is the first description of their nesting behavior.

Technical Abstract: A nontarget bee species, Calliopsis personata, was found nesting at two managed alkali bee (Nomia melanderi) beds in eastern Washington. Alfalfa seed growers manage these bee beds to build up populations of N. melanderi, an excellent pollinator of alfalfa. This is the first description of another species using the managed bee beds, and the first description of nesting behavior for C. personata. We also identified the pollen collected by one foraging female C. personata, which was primarily Salix sp. (willow) pollen. Pollen preferences suggest that C. personata is likely not contributing significantly to alfalfa pollination, but its use of the managed bee beds provides evidence that N. melanderi management can provide a benefit to other native bee species.