Colony success of the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, in relation to infections by two protozoan parasites, Crithidia bombi and Nosema bombi

1999 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Imhoof ◽  
P. Schmid-Hempel
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Protozoan Parasites ◽  
Nosema Bombi ◽  
Crithidia Bombi

Horizontal transmission success of Nosema bombi to its adult bumble bee hosts: effects of dosage, spore source and host age

Parasitology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 134 (12) ◽  
pp. 1719-1726 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. T. RUTRECHT ◽  
J. KLEE ◽  
M. J. F. BROWN
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Horizontal Transmission ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Population Heterogeneity ◽  
Host Susceptibility ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Host Age ◽  
Transmission Success ◽  
Nosema Bombi ◽  
Evolutionary Epidemiology

SUMMARYParasite transmission dynamics are fundamental to explaining the evolutionary epidemiology of disease because transmission and virulence are tightly linked. Horizontal transmission of microsporidian parasites, e.g. Nosema bombi, may be influenced by numerous factors, including inoculation dose, host susceptibility and host population heterogeneity. Despite previous studies of N. bombi and its bumble bee hosts, neither the epidemiology nor impact of the parasite are as yet understood. Here we investigate the influence N. bombi spore dosage (1000 to 500 000 spores), spore source (Bombus terrestris and B. lucorum isolates) and host age (2- and 10-day-old bees) have on disease establishment and the presence of patent infections in adult bumble bees. Two-day-old bees were twice as susceptible as their 10-day-old sisters, and a 5-fold increase in dosage from 100 000 to 500 000 spores resulted in a 20-fold increase in the prevalence of patent infections. While intraspecific inoculations were 3 times more likely to result in non-patent infections there was no such effect on the development of patent infections. These results suggest that host-age and dose are likely to play a role in N. bombi's evolutionary epidemiology. The relatively low levels of horizontal transmission success are suggestive of low virulence in this system.

scholarly journals No evidence of effects or interaction between the widely used herbicide, glyphosate, and a common parasite in bumble bees

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12486
Author(s):  
Edward A. Straw ◽  
Mark J.F. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Exposure ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Acute Exposure ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Crithidia Bombi ◽  
Bee Health ◽  
Acute And Chronic Exposure

Background Glyphosate is the world’s most used pesticide and it is used without the mitigation measures that could reduce the exposure of pollinators to it. However, studies are starting to suggest negative impacts of this pesticide on bees, an essential group of pollinators. Accordingly, whether glyphosate, alone or alongside other stressors, is detrimental to bee health is a vital question. Bees are suffering declines across the globe, and pesticides, including glyphosate, have been suggested as being factors in these declines. Methods Here we test, across a range of experimental paradigms, whether glyphosate impacts a wild bumble bee species, Bombus terrestris. In addition, we build upon existing work with honey bees testing glyphosate-parasite interactions by conducting fully crossed experiments with glyphosate and a common bumble bee trypanosome gut parasite, Crithidia bombi. We utilised regulatory acute toxicity testing protocols, modified to allow for exposure to multiple stressors. These protocols are expanded upon to test for effects on long term survival (20 days). Microcolony testing, using unmated workers, was employed to measure the impacts of either stressor on a proxy of reproductive success. This microcolony testing was conducted with both acute and chronic exposure to cover a range of exposure scenarios. Results We found no effects of acute or chronic exposure to glyphosate, over a range of timespans post-exposure, on mortality or a range of sublethal metrics. We also found no interaction between glyphosate and Crithidia bombi in any metric, although there was conflicting evidence of increased parasite intensity after an acute exposure to glyphosate. In contrast to published literature, we found no direct impacts of this parasite on bee health. Our testing focussed on mortality and worker reproduction, so impacts of either or both of these stressors on other sublethal metrics could still exist. Conclusions Our results expand the current knowledge on glyphosate by testing a previously untested species, Bombus terrestris, using acute exposure, and by incorporating a parasite never before tested alongside glyphosate. In conclusion our results find that glyphosate, as an active ingredient, is unlikely to be harmful to bumble bees either alone, or alongside Crithidia bombi.

Observations of native bumble bees inside of commercial colonies ofBombus impatiens(Hymenoptera: Apidae) and the potential for pathogen spillover

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J. Hicks ◽  
B.L. Pilgrim ◽  
E. Perry ◽  
H.D. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Native Bees ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Nosema Bombi ◽  
Crithidia Bombi ◽  
Native Bee ◽  
Bee Diversity ◽  
Polymerase Chain

AbstractMany fruit producers use commercial colonies ofBombus impatiensCresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae) to supplement crop pollination by native bees. A small number of Newfoundland (Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) farmers forego purchasing new colonies and, instead, purchase previously used colonies from crops in other provinces. This practice has potentially dangerous implications that may adversely affect future native bee diversity in Newfoundland. This study is the first to record the presence of native bumble bee species inside the colonies of new and pre-used commercialB. impatiensand the first to look at diseases in native bumble bees from Newfoundland. Polymerase chain reaction and taxon-specific oligonucleotides were used to screen the commercial and native bumble bee species for pathogens.Crithidia bombi(Lipa and Triggiani), Apicystis bombi(Liu, Macfarlane, and Pengelly),Nosema bombiFantham and Porter, Nosema ceranaeFrieset al., and species ofAscosphaeraOlive and Spiltoir, were detected in native bumble bees that were collected from inside the new and pre-used commercialB. impatiens.Crithidia bombi,A. bombi, andN. bombiwere also detected among native bees that were collected away from the commercial colonies.Nosema apis(Zander) andMelissococcus plutonius(White) were not detected in any of the bees tested. The mixing of native bumble bees inB. impatienscolonies increases the potential for pathogen spillover and spillback that may threaten the small and vulnerable island bee fauna.

scholarly journals Short communication: First data on the prevalence and distribution of pathogens in bumblebees (Bombus terrestris and Bombus pascuorum) from Spain

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. e05SC01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara Jabal-Uriel ◽  
Raquel Martín-Hernández ◽  
Concepcion Ornosa ◽  
Mariano Higes ◽  
Eduardo Berriatua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Infection Prevalence ◽  
Pollination Services ◽  
Pathogen Diversity ◽  
Nosema Bombi ◽  
Crithidia Bombi ◽  
Pathogen Prevalence ◽  
Area North ◽  
Estimate Prevalence ◽  
Ecological Differences

Bumblebees provide pollination services not only to wildflowers but also to economically important crops. In the context of the global decline of pollinators, there is an increasing interest in determining the pathogen diversity of bumblebee species. In this work, wild bumblebees of the species Bombus terrestris and Bombus pascuorum from northern and southern Spain were molecularly screened to detect and estimate prevalence of pathogens. One third of bumblebees were infected: while viruses only infected B. pascuorum, B. terrestris was infected by Apicystis bombi, Crithidia bombi and Nosema bombi. Ecological differences between host species might affect the success of the pathogens biological cycle and consequently infection prevalence. Furthermore, sex of the bumblebees (workers or males), sampling area (north or south) and altitude were important predictors of pathogen prevalence. Understanding how these factors affect pathogens distribution is essential for future conservation of bumblebee wild populations.

scholarly journals Microbiome Structure Influences Infection by the Parasite Crithidia bombi in Bumble Bees

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blair K. Mockler ◽  
Waldan K. Kwong ◽  
Nancy A. Moran ◽  
Hauke Koch
Keyword(s):  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bacterial Load ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crithidia Bombi ◽  
Microbiome Diversity

ABSTRACT Recent declines in bumble bee populations are of great concern and have prompted critical evaluations of the role of pathogen introductions and host resistance in bee health. One factor that may influence host resilience when facing infection is the gut microbiota. Previous experiments with Bombus terrestris , a European bumble bee, showed that the gut microbiota can protect against Crithidia bombi , a widespread trypanosomatid parasite of bumble bees. However, the particular characteristics of the microbiome responsible for this protective effect have thus far eluded identification. Using wild and commercially sourced Bombus impatiens , an important North American pollinator, we conducted cross-wise microbiota transplants to naive hosts of both backgrounds and challenged them with a Crithidia parasite. As with B. terrestris , we find that microbiota-dependent protection against Crithidia operates in B. impatiens . Lower Crithidia infection loads were experimentally associated with high microbiome diversity, large gut bacterial populations, and the presence of Apibacter , Lactobacillus Firm-5, and Gilliamella spp. in the gut community. These results indicate that even subtle differences between gut community structures can have a significant impact on a microbiome's ability to defend against parasite infections. IMPORTANCE Many wild bumble bee populations are under threat due to human activity, including through the introduction of pathogens via commercially raised bees. Recently, it was found that the bumble bee gut microbiota can help defend against a common parasite, Crithidia bombi , but the particular factors contributing to this protection are unknown. Using both wild and commercially raised bees, we conducted microbiota transplants to show that microbiome diversity, total gut bacterial load, and the presence of certain core members of the microbiota may all impact bee susceptibility to Crithidia infection. Bee origin (genetic background) was also a factor. Finally, by examining this phenomenon in a previously uninvestigated bee species, our study demonstrates that microbiome-mediated resistance to Crithidia is conserved across multiple bumble bee species. These findings highlight how intricate interactions between hosts, microbiomes, and parasites can have wide-ranging consequences for the health of ecologically important species.

scholarly journals Olfactory coding in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Mertes ◽  
Julie Carcaud ◽  
Jean-Christophe Sandoz
Keyword(s):  
Honey Bees ◽  
Antennal Lobe ◽  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Bumble Bees ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Carbon Chain Length ◽  
Olfactory Coding ◽  
Major Transitions

AbstractSociality is classified as one of the major transitions in evolution, with the largest number of eusocial species found in the insect order Hymenoptera, including the Apini (honey bees) and the Bombini (bumble bees). Bumble bees and honey bees not only differ in their social organization and foraging strategies, but comparative analyses of their genomes demonstrated that bumble bees have a slightly less diverse family of olfactory receptors than honey bees, suggesting that their olfactory abilities have adapted to different social and/or ecological conditions. However, unfortunately, no precise comparison of olfactory coding has been performed so far between honey bees and bumble bees, and little is known about the rules underlying olfactory coding in the bumble bee brain. In this study, we used in vivo calcium imaging to study olfactory coding of a panel of floral odorants in the antennal lobe of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris. Our results show that odorants induce reproducible neuronal activity in the bumble bee antennal lobe. Each odorant evokes a different glomerular activity pattern revealing this molecule’s chemical structure, i.e. its carbon chain length and functional group. In addition, pairwise similarity among odor representations are conserved in bumble bees and honey bees. This study thus suggests that bumble bees, like honey bees, are equipped to respond to odorants according to their chemical features.

Parasitic larvae in Bombus terrestris

Parasitology ◽  
1937 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 524-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Legge
Keyword(s):  
Bombus Terrestris ◽  
Abdominal Cavity ◽  
Bumble Bee

I wish to record some unidentified parasites, from the abdominal cavity of a Queen Bumble-bee (Bombus terrestris).

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