The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 52 Numbers 1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2019 Numbers Article 8 1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2019 September 2019 Use of Nest and Pollen Resources by Leafcutter Bees, Genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Central Michigan Michael F. Killewald Michigan State University, [email protected] Logan M. Rowe Michigan State University, [email protected] Kelsey K. Graham Michigan State University, [email protected] Thomas J. Wood Michigan State University, [email protected] Rufus Isaacs Michigan State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Killewald, Michael F.; Rowe, Logan M.; Graham, Kelsey K.; Wood, Thomas J.; and Isaacs, Rufus 2019. "Use of Nest and Pollen Resources by Leafcutter Bees, Genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Central Michigan," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 52 (1) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol52/iss1/8 This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Use of Nest and Pollen Resources by Leafcutter Bees, Genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Central Michigan Cover Page Footnote We thank Katie Boyd-Lee for her help in processing samples, Yajun Zhang for her help with landscape analysis, and Marisol Quintanilla for the use of her microscope to collect images of pollen. We thank Jordan Guy, Gabriela Quinlan, Meghan Milbrath, Steven Van Timmeren, Jacquelyn Albert, and Philip Fanning for their comments while preparing the manuscript. We thank the CRC station manager Jerry Skeltis and his staff for maintaining the research plots. This study was funded by the MSU Undergraduate Research Program (URP) and the Jeffrey Boettcher fund. This peer-review article is available in The Great Lakes Entomologist: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol52/iss1/8 Killewald et al.: Use of Nest and Pollen Resources by Leafcutter Bees 34 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 52, Nos. 1–2 Use of Nest and Pollen Resources by Leafcutter Bees, Genus Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Central Michigan Killewald, M. F.1,2 *, L. M. Rowe1,3, K. K. Graham1, T. J. Wood1,4, and R. Isaacs1 1 Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 2 Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 3 Michigan Natural Features Inventory, 525 W. Allegan Street, Lansing, MI 48933 4 Laboratory of Zoology, University of Mons, 700, Mons, Belgium *Corresponding author: (e-mail: [email protected]) (204) 474-7485 Abstract Many landscapes throughout the Great Lakes region have experienced reductions in floral and nesting resources for bees. Identifying the resources used by bees in the family Megachilidae can be used to inform conservation programs that aim to support this group. In this study, we identified the preferred nesting substrate and size, as well as the propor- tion of distinct pollen types used for offspring provisioning by Megachile (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) species. A total of 39 completed artificial nesting tubes were collected between July 25 and August 30, 2016. A majority of completed nests were in 4 mm diameter tubes. However, more 6 mm and 7 mm diameter nests were occupied later in the season. A total of 98 cells from 20 nests were analyzed for the composition of the pollen provisions. Nesting females gathered pollen primarily from Trifolium repens L.-type (70.2% of total pollen) and the majority of collection of this species occurred between July 25 and August 10. There was also frequent pollen collection from Centaurea stoebe (L.) (9.0%), Rudbeckia-type (8.4%), and Cirsium spp. (8.3%) with the majority of collection from these species occurring after August 10. Our results show that Megachile species at our mid-Michigan site exhibited strong preferences for specific nest hole sizes, and they primarily collected pollen from non-native plants. This information can inform efforts to build local populations of these summer-active bees using combined nesting and foraging resources. Keywords: Pollen identification, pollinator, bee, stem, nest Leafcutter bees (Hymenoptera: Most Megachile use leaf material to Megachilidae) are important pollinators of make their nests in decaying logs or inside alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), clover (Trifolium the hollow stems of plants, but some species spp.), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon make their nests underground (Hobbs and Aiton), sunflower (Helianthus spp.), and Lilly 1954, Gibbs et al. 2017). The inner walls many wildflower species (Hobbs and Lilly of the nest are lined with cut leaf material to 1954, Stephen and Osgood 1965b, Osgood form a cell (Frolich and Parker 1983), with 1974, Tepedino and Frohlich 1982, Cane et some species using masticated leaf material al. 1996, Pitts-Singer and Cane 2011, Rich- and soil (Medler 1964). They then provision ards 2015). In the wild, Megachile are highly this cell with pollen and nectar before laying adaptive, utilizing a wide range of nesting an egg and finally sealing the cell with more materials, including plant stems, soil, and leaf material (Ivanochko 1979). This process is repeated several times from the back to the logs, as well as man-made structures (Hobbs front of the cavity until it is full of completed and Lilly 1954). Because of this plasticity, cells. Once the nest is full of completed cells, there has been increasing interest in man- an endcap of leaf material is added to protect aging these species near cropland to bolster their offspring. Once the endcap is added, pollination services. To manage Megachile the nest is now completed and the female species, artificial cavities of various sizes begins another (Frolich and Parker 1983, can be placed around croplands to encourage Peterson and Artz 2014). Within the Great nesting. However, regionally specific infor- Lakes region, the natural nesting biology of mation on nesting and floral resources used several species of Megachile is well studied, by different species of Megachile is needed to and we can use this foundation to inform optimize efforts to increase local abundances selection of nesting materials for manage- of this genus. ment (Medler and Koerber 1958, Medler Published by ValpoScholar, 2019 1 The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 52, No. 1 [2019], Art. 8 2019 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 35 1959, 1964, Medler and Lussenhop 1968). and 2) What are the primary pollen species Nesting habits of some commonly managed collected by these bees? Megachile, such as M. rotundata (Fabricus), may vary significantly, as they are known to Methods nest in cavities with diameters as variable as 3–4 mm (O’Neill et al. 2010) to 6–7 mm in di- Study site. This research was con- ameter (Stephen and Osgood 1965a). But we ducted during the summer of 2016 at still know relatively little about the optimal the Clarksville Research Center (CRC) nesting materials that should be provided located near Clarksville, MI (42.873390, to bolster local populations of Megachile in -85.258496). Fifty-three native wildflower general (instead of targeting specific species). species (S1) were established in individual Clarifying the optimal materials and sizes plots replicated four times, across a three- to provide Megachile species in the Great acre area (Rowe et al. 2018). Within a 1 km Lakes region will therefore optimize efforts radius of the study site, the landscape was by growers and conservationists to increase dominated by non-rewarding agricultural local populations. land (54.1%), but also included 20.3% of Similarly, the floral resources used rewarding agricultural land, 10.4% forests, by Megachile species in the Great Lakes 7.3% of developed land, 3.5% wetlands, 3.2% region are not well studied, and a better fallow agricultural land, and 0.7% other understanding of resource use could aid in classification types (Fig. 1). Non-rewarding increasing local abundance of Megachile. agricultural land is comprised of crops that Although lists of visited plants for different do not produce resources that are generally Megachile species exist (Ascher and Picker- used by bees. Corn, oats, rye and sorghum ing 2019), there is little information on which are included in the non-rewarding agricul- plants this genus uses for pollen foraging tural land category. Similarly, rewarding agricultural land is comprised of crops that specifically, as these plant associations are produce resources generally used by bees, often more restrictive than those plants vis- such as alfalfa, cucumbers, clover, wildflow- ited for nectar (Williams 2003). It has been ers, and apples. These data were extracted shown that some Megachile species often from the Crop Data Layer (USDA National provision nests with pollen from a restricted Agricultural Statistics Service Cropland number of plant species, such as Asteraceae Data Layer 2016) with 30 m spatial resolu- or Fabaceae species (Tepedino and Frohlich tion using ArcGIS 10.2.2 (ESRI 2014). Full 1982, O’Neill et al. 2004), and that this num- details of the site layout, plant species used, ber of plant species may be further restricted and experimental design can be found in when factors such as intensive agriculture Rowe et al. (2018). reduce floral abundance and diversity in the area (Rich and Woodruff 1996). Pollen Nest boxes. To identify preferences resources are critical for brood development for nest tube diameter and material, four (Nelson et al. 1972), and clarifying the pollen nesting boxes containing a variety of mate- provisioning behavior of this group of bees is rials were placed at CRC in May 2016 (Fig. needed to better understand their resource 2). Each nest box was made from a plastic requirements. mail tote (Uline, Pleasant Prairie, WI) that was 18 x 13 x 12” in size and contained four Pollen analysis can be used to identify sizes of cardboard nesting tube (4, 5, 6, and dietary preferences and host-species fidelity 7 mm inside diameter) in bundles of 62 nests in bees (Beil et al.