Apidologie最新文献

{"title":"Molecular genetics, morphology, and geometric morphometrics reveal unexpected complexities within Melissodes agilis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and M. trinodis","authors":"Justin C. Roch,&nbsp;Michael Lauback Hidalgo,&nbsp;Deicy Carolina Muñoz Agudelo,&nbsp;Joan Milam,&nbsp;Lynn S. Adler,&nbsp;Jeremy C. Andersen","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01293-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01293-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Recent reports of declining bee populations highlight the importance of bee monitoring efforts; however, bee community assessments can be hindered by species complexes that are difficult to separate morphologically. One such species complex consists of the common and widespread solitary bees <i>Melissodes agilis</i> Cresson and <i>M. trinodis</i> Robertson. To test alternative methods of identification in this species pair, we morphologically identified <i>M. agilis/trinodis</i> specimens from Massachusetts, Illinois, and Texas; reconstructed a multi-locus phylogeny; and estimated a statistical parsimony network based on mitochondrial COI gene sequences. We additionally landmarked forewing venation, and tested if forewing morphometrics could accurately assign specimens to their haplogroup, morphological species, and sex. Specimens could generally be morphologically identified as either <i>M. agilis</i> or <i>M. trinodis</i>, but Massachusetts populations primarily consisted of morphological <i>M. trinodis</i> females and <i>M. agilis</i> males. Multi-locus reconstructions recovered multiple distinct genetic groups, with all groups including individuals morphologically consistent with both focal species. Network analyses identified additional genetic diversity, reconstructing four different haplogroups. Forewing morphometrics were moderately effective at separating haplogroups and morphological species, and highly effective at separating sexes. Our results highlight additional difficulties separating <i>M. agilis</i> and <i>M. trinodis</i>, particularly in northeastern populations, and suggest the possible existence of cryptic diversity, introgressive hybridization, and/or conspecificity within this complex. We discuss the potential roles of incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization in shaping our results, and encourage additional study of this complex to clarify distinguishing morphological characters in northeastern populations and to determine the nature of the potential cryptic diversity.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148752347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biparental care is a resilient evolutionarily strategy persisting across multiple species of small carpenter bees despite low paternity","authors":"Michael Mikát,&nbsp;Tereza Fraňková,&nbsp;Daniel Benda,&nbsp;Jakub Straka","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01297-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01297-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Biparental care is rare in insects and is commonly attributed to genetic monogamy, which yields high fitness benefits for caring males. The discovery of biparental care despite low male paternity in the bee <i>Ceratina nigrolabiata</i> challenges this view. We tested whether this pattern is population-specific or evolutionarily stable by examining the frequency of biparental care and male paternity in two additional populations of <i>C. nigrolabiata</i> and three closely related species. Biparental care occurred in all studied populations and species, although at varying frequencies. Guarding males exhibited low paternity due to female multiple mating. These results indicate that biparental care can persist over evolutionary timescales (ca. 5–8 million years) even under low paternity, suggesting that mate guarding may be a key selective force promoting its evolution.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13592-026-01297-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148752342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effects of infusion of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) and European red pine (Pinus sylvestris) on honey bee health and against nosemosis","authors":"Sedat Sevin,&nbsp;Hidayet Tutun,&nbsp;Babür Erdem,&nbsp;Okan Can Arslan,&nbsp;Samet Okuyan,&nbsp;Özge Özgenç Çınar,&nbsp;Ahmet Ceylan","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01295-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01295-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><i>Nos</i><i>ema</i> infection negatively affects colony health, productivity, and survival. The most commonly used drug for treating <i>Nosema</i> infection is fumagillin, but due to its side effects and being banned in some regions, alternative approaches need to be explored. This study aimed to examine the effects of an infusion prepared from the aerial parts of wormwood and the buds of European red pine on bee health and <i>Nosema</i> infection. The effects of the infusion on bee health were determined by a chronic toxicity test (10-day toxicity), locomotor activity, and histopathological examination of the midgut. Also, the anti-<i>Nosema</i> activity of the infusion was determined by comparison with fumagillin under laboratory conditions. The 10-day toxicity test showed that the infusion was well-tolerated, maintaining a high survival rate of 99.2% compared to 91.4% in the sugar-fed control group (<i>p</i> = 0.004). Histopathological analysis demonstrated that the midgut epithelium of bees treated with the infusion maintained normal epithelial cellular morphology and intercellular junctions; however, a fragmented peritrophic membrane was observed, indicating a sublethal physiological stress on the midgut’s non-cellular barriers. Both the infusion and fumagillin treatments significantly reduced <i>Nosema</i> spore loads compared to the infected control (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). It was found that the infusion had no significant effect on locomotor activity in the forager and young bees. The study demonstrated that the infusion was well-tolerated by bees in the short term without adversely affecting locomotor activity, and it was as effective as fumagillin in reducing <i>Nosema</i> spore loads.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148752092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing flight activity and foraging in honey bees: insights from bee counter data and plant protection product exposure in semi-field studies","authors":"Silke Andree-Labsch,&nbsp;Klaus-Reinhard Thois","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01289-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01289-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Numerous studies have used electronic bee counters to gain a better understanding of the impact of environmental conditions on bee flight activity. In addition to meteorological data, the impact of plant protection products is also of great interest. In this work, we present data from bee counters collected in three semi-field studies, wherein some of the colonies were exposed to well-known chemical treatments, dimethoate or λ-cyhalothrin. We first analyze the bee flight activity of the untreated hives combined with meteorological data: multiple regression models confirm solar radiation and air temperature as the main drivers, while linear mixed models that account for temporal autocorrelation support a richer fixed-effects structure. Furthermore, we investigate the relation between visually assessed foraging activity, flight activity, and meteorological parameters. For our trials, we find weak to moderate Pearson correlations (0.21 to 0.40) between foraging and flight activity. Temperature data can improve the fit, but additional parameters are required to fully explain the foraging activity. We then analyze the signatures of the different chemical treatments in the bee flight data using Bayesian structural time series models. Our approach enables the differentiation between weather and treatment effects and facilitates the analysis of treatment signatures in the data from individual exposed colonies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13592-026-01289-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148614215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Areas of endemism of orchid bees (Euglossini) in the Neotropical region","authors":"Erica A. Bonfim,&nbsp;Luiz R. R. Faria,&nbsp;Peter Löwenberg-Neto","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01288-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01288-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Orchid bees are exclusive to the Neotropical region. This study aimed to identify Euglossini areas of endemism (AE) across the Neotropics and to compare them with existing regionalizations. We compiled 4,317 unique occurrence records for 182 species. AEs were identified using NDM/VNDM software with 3-degree and 4-degree grids, and quantitatively compared using V-measure and relative inhomogeneity. Analyses yielded 11 consensus AEs (3°) and 19 (4°). Strongest global association was found with previous orchid bee’s areas as expected. Locally, AEs strongly corresponded with Panama + Chocó, Amazon Basin, and Atlantic Forest. Local correspondence was notably weaker in the Andean region, and surprisingly, no AEs were identified within the previously suggested Paraguayan Corridor. These robust spatial patterns of endemism offer critical insights to refine current biogeographic regionalizations of the Euglossini tribe.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13592-026-01288-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148613328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating gut microbial community dynamics in Bombus terrestris queens during diapause: a comparison of relative and absolute quantification methods","authors":"Zhengyi Zhang,&nbsp;Fan Yang,&nbsp;Fugang Liu,&nbsp;Jilian Li","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01282-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01282-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>While relative abundance data have revealed compositional shifts in the gut microbiome of bumblebees before and after diapause, such data alone cannot reliably assess microbial load dynamics. Notably, the gut microbiome’s temporal variation during diapause remains unexplored, particularly in terms of absolute quantification. Here, we conducted a longitudinal experiment to investigate the temporal variation in gut microbiome of bumblebees during diapause (0, 30, and 60 days) using both relative quantitative and absolute quantitative data. Our study based on absolute quantification data showed a simplification of microbial network structure, a reduced observed richness of alpha diversity, and a decline in the core bacterial genus <i>Gilliamella</i> during diapause—contrary to trends inferred from our study based on relative abundance data and previous research. We propose that temporal variation of gut microbiome may be associated with the host’s fasting state and isolation from environmental microbes during diapause, which could contribute to a reduction in microbial load. Therefore, we advocate for cautious interpretation of relative abundance data and emphasize the importance of absolute quantification in ecological and host-associated microbiome research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scientific note on the non-specific amplification of honey bee pathogens in a non-target host: the European beewolf (Philanthus triangulum)","authors":"Álvaro Urueña,&nbsp;Sergio García-Álvarez,&nbsp;David Lugo,&nbsp;Carlos Ruiz,&nbsp;Pilar De la Rúa","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01291-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01291-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The European beewolf (<i>Philanthus </i><i>triangulum</i> Fabricius, 1775) is a solitary wasp that preys on honey bees and has recently expanded its range to the Canary Islands. This study investigates whether <i>P. triangulum</i> could act as a vector for honey bee gut pathogens and evaluates the reliability of their PCR-based detection in non-target hosts. Ninety-four beewolf individuals were screened for microsporidia and trypanosomatids using family and species-specific primers. Amplification was successful for pathogens at family level, but sequencing revealed non-specific amplification of host microsatellite regions. Only in one beewolf individual the pathogen amplicon showed identity with multiple trypanosomatid species, though infection could not be confirmed. These findings highlight the risk of misinterpretation when using primers specific to trypanosomatids and microsporidia to other taxa than honey bees and emphasize the need for sequencing confirmation. Our results underscore methodological challenges in pathogen spillover studies and call for robust diagnostic protocols to avoid false positives and improve pollinator health research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Scientific note on small hive beetles infesting giant honey bee colonies (Apis dorsata)","authors":"Prabir Kumar Garain,&nbsp;Kereyagalahalli Mallaiah Kumaranag,&nbsp;Chandan Kumar Mondal,&nbsp;Poonam Jasrotia,&nbsp;Nithya Chandran,&nbsp;Loganathan R.,&nbsp;Vireesha P.,&nbsp;Sachin Suresh Suroshe","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01292-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01292-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The small hive beetle (<i>Aethina tumida</i>) is known to infest colonies of cavity nesting honey bees, <i>Apis mellifera</i>, <i>Apis cerana</i>, bumble bees and stingless bees. The adult beetles lay eggs inside the invaded colony and together with their larvae feed on the honey, pollen and young bees and consequently induce colony collapse or absconding. Here, we present the first evidence of small hive beetles infesting colonies of open nesting giant honey bees, <i>Apis dorsata</i>. In May 2024, some unknown beetles and larvae were found associated with damaged wild colonies of <i>A. dorsata</i> in a routine survey in the Sundarbans mangrove forest in India. The infested combs were covered by a slimy substance and smelled like fermented honey, like known clinical symptoms of small hive beetle infestation. The observations also suggest that the beetles can induce absconding in infested <i>A. dorsata</i> colonies like in <i>A. mellifera</i>. Morphological and molecular data confirmed the beetles to be <i>A. tumida</i>. The present study suggests that the pest has expanded its host range towards wild <i>A. dorsata</i> colonies. Our observations are raising serious concern for the conservation of this native honey bee population and are calling for adequate mitigation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Monosodium glutamate does not reduce the brood removal of Apis mellifera larvae triggered by the varroa treatment lithium chloride in honey bee colonies","authors":"Diana I. Schneider,&nbsp;Maja Pickny,&nbsp;Kirsten S. Traynor,&nbsp;Carolin Rein","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01290-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01290-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>For over 40 years, the mite <i>Varroa destructor</i> has devastated colonies of the honey bee <i>Apis mellifera</i>. Without treatment, colonies typically die within 1–3 years. Recently lithium chloride (LiCl) has been found to be an effective varroacide at a concentration of 25 mM when mixed into the food of the bees, but unfortunately this treatment harms the honey bee brood. Based on an experiment with the clawed frog <i>Xenopus laevis</i>, where monosodium glutamate (MSG) had a protective effect, we investigated if adding MSG into the treatment can reduce the impact of LiCl. We tested different concentrations of MSG in the LiCl syrup and fed it to caged bees as well as free-flying colonies. First, we investigated the survival rate of adult honey bees in a cage trial while feeding 25 mM LiCl syrup with three different concentrations of MSG (0.4 g/L, 0.8 g/L, and 1.2 g/L MSG) and two control syrups (plain syrup and 25 mM LiCl) over a period of 27 days. The treatment group with LiCl + 0.4 g/L MSG had a significantly higher survival rate while the treatment with LiCl + 0.8 g/L MSG and the positive control led to the lowest survival rate. We proceeded to a field trial, observing the impact of two MSG concentrations (0.4 g/L and 0.8 g/L) and a LiCl-only control on brood development in bee colonies. Regular assessments revealed no significant differences in brood removal rates between the treatments, though absolute removal rates were higher with the addition of glutamate. In summary, while adult bees tolerate glutamate in syrup, it does not alleviate LiCl’s harm to brood and may increase brood removal.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13592-026-01290-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of queen cell cup sizes on royal jelly production and queen quality in Apis mellifera","authors":"Sanjita Paudel,&nbsp;Min Raj Pokhrel,&nbsp;Khem Raj Neupane,&nbsp;Diwas Devkota,&nbsp;Robert Owen,&nbsp;Saraswati Neupane","doi":"10.1007/s13592-026-01283-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s13592-026-01283-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In honey bees, <i>Apis mellifera</i>, the queen is the mother of a colony, and her quality helps determine the fitness and performance of the colony. In queen production, grafted larvae age, nutrition, season, queen weight at emergence, ovarioles number, and spermatheca volume are major traits considered. Quality queen can be produced by grafting a day-old worker larva in queen cell cups; however, the optimal queen cell cup size for grafting remains ambiguous as there are several sized queen cell cups available for grafting. This study aimed to determine the optimum queen cell cup size for royal jelly production and queen quality in Chitwan and Dang, Nepal. The treatments comprised queen cell cups with top and bottom diameters of 6-mm, 7-mm, 8-mm, 9-mm, 10-mm, 11-mm, and 12-mm (height 1 cm for all), each replicated five times. Graft acceptance, royal jelly amount, queen size, and associated colony performance were measured across the treatments. The maximum graft acceptance was recorded in 9-mm queen cell cups followed by 8-mm queen cell cups. The higher royal jelly amount was recorded in 10-mm queen cell cups followed by 9-mm queen cell cups. Queens with bigger thorax and abdomen size were produced from 9-mm queen cell cups, and they produced larger brood area in both locations. This research indicates 10-mm queen cell cups are suitable to optimize royal jelly production while 9-mm queen cell cups are suitable for quality queen production.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8078,"journal":{"name":"Apidologie","volume":"57 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148465387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}