MANAGEMENT OF MEGACHILE ROTUNDATA IN NORTHWESTERN CANADA FOR POPULATION INCREASE

1974 ◽  
Vol 106 (9) ◽  
pp. 1003-1008 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Pankiw ◽  
B. Siemens
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Megachile Rotundata ◽  
Directional Orientation ◽  
Northern Areas ◽  
Leafcutter Bee ◽  
New Material ◽  
Nesting Material

AbstractStudies on population increase of the alfalfa leafcutter bee (Megachile rotundata Fabr.) were conducted in northern areas of Alberta and British Columbia (lat. 55°N. to 58°30′N.). Polyethylene shelters with one side open, placed over the domiciles, raised domicile daytime temperatures by 4°–10 °C, increased the duration of activity and the pollinating range of the bees, and resulted in an increased number of cocoons. Population increase was 2–5 times greater when hives and shelters faced south than when they faced east or west. Within a shelter bees also preferred hives with southern exposure. Movement of domiciles in mid-season for distances of 150 m or more caused a reduction in bee populations. Bees preferred wood to polystrene nesting material, old to new material, and surface stained material with patterns to unstained material. Severe mould development in polystrene nesting material affected development of larvae and emergence of pupae. Since population increase of M. rotundata, by utilization of polyethylene shelters and by proper directional orientation, is successful, re-establishment of a major alfalfa industry in northwestern Canada is now possible.

EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT AND EQUIPMENT ON PRODUCTIVITY OF ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEES (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE) IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, CANADA

1996 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.W. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Total Cell ◽  
Significant Positive Effect ◽  
Megachile Rotundata ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Temperature Heat ◽  
Leafcutter Bee ◽  
Nesting Material ◽  
Higher Temperature ◽  
Positive Effect

AbstractFour indicators of productivity and quality for the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (Fab.), were examined over a 3-year period and the influence of different shelter designs, nesting materials, and 34 environmental variables evaluated. A higher percentage of cocoons per total cells was produced in polystyrene nesting material than in pinewood nesting material. Both nesting materials had similar percentages of tunnels capped or containing cells and total numbers of cells per hive. Shelters with conspicuous orientation patterns or silhouettes had more tunnels capped per hive, tunnels with cells, and greater total cell production per hive than did other shelter designs. The time of maximum bee production varied greatly among the 3 years. Many environmental variables, especially those associated with higher temperature, heat units, and mean actual temperature, had a significant positive effect on bee productivity and cell quality. The information contained in this study may help delineate those climatic areas where this valuable alfalfa pollinator can be most effective, and may assist beekeepers in making management decisions that will improve their operations.

IMPACT OF DAMAGE BY THE DRIEDFRUIT MOTH, VITULA EDMANDSAE SERRATILINEELLA (LEPIDOPTERA: PYRALIDAE), A PEST OF THE ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEE, MEGACHILE ROTUNDATA (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE)

1983 ◽  
Vol 115 (12) ◽  
pp. 1549-1553 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. W. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Megachile Rotundata ◽  
Wood Material ◽  
Significant Positive Relationship ◽  
Leafcutter Bee ◽  
Lepidoptera Pyralidae ◽  
Nesting Material

AbstractLarvae of the driedfruit moth, Vitula edmandsae serratilineella Ragonot, enter uncapped tunnels in hives of the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata F., and eat the pollen and nectar provisions of incomplete cells. Significantly more cocoons are destroyed in hives made of pine nesting material than in those made of polystyrene nesting material. However, significantly more tunnel walls are chewed into and through in the polystyrene than in the wood material. A significant positive relationship exists between the number of moth larvae per hive and the number of bee cells produced in that hive. After hives are removed from the field and placed in storage for the winter, most mature larvae leave the tunnels upon completion of feeding and aggregate in spaces between hives.

TOXICITY OF INSECTICIDES TO THE ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEE, MEGACHILE ROTUNDATA F. (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE), ESTABLISHED BY THREE EVALUATION METHODS

1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Charnetski
Keyword(s):  
Petri Dish ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Laboratory Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Procedure ◽  
Megachile Rotundata ◽  
Field Cage ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Leafcutter Bee ◽  
Significant Mortality

AbstractThree methods—tube chambers (ventilated and unventilated), petri dish chambers, and field cages—were used to evaluate the toxicity of deltamethrin, trichlorfon, and methoxychlor deposits on alfalfa, Medicago sativa L., to 1- to 7-day-old alfalfa leafcutter bees, Megachile rotundata (F.), 24 and 48 h after exposure. In unventilated tube chambers, all three insecticides were significantly toxic to male bees after 24 and 48 h, but only deltamethrin and trichlorfon were significantly toxic to female bees after 24 h. In ventilated tube chambers, only deltamethrin was significantly toxic by contact and then only to male bees at 24 h. Significant vapor action was observed only for trichlorfon and only in unventilated tube chambers. By the petri dish method, only deltamethrin caused significant mortality to male and female bees. However, bee mortality increased significantly between 24 and 48 h. By the field cage method, there was no significant difference in mortality among treatments and controls within the 24- and 48-h evaluations. Bee mortality in the controls was much higher in the petri dish and field cage methods than in either of the two variations of the tube chamber method. The three evaluation methods are compared and the need for a standardized laboratory evaluation procedure is discussed.

scholarly journals A reexamination of Yuknessia from the Cambrian of British Columbia and Utah

2015 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven T. LoDuca ◽  
Jean-Bernard Caron ◽  
James D. Schiffbauer ◽  
Shuhai Xiao ◽  
Anthony Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
National Park ◽  
Red Alga ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Burgess Shale ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinity ◽  
New Material ◽  
Scanning Electron

AbstractTo investigate the phylogenetic affinity of Yuknessia simplex Walcott, 1919, scanning electron microscopy was applied to the Burgess Shale (Cambrian Series 3, Stage 5) type material and to new material from the Trilobite Beds (Yoho National Park) and specimens from the Cambrian of Utah. On the basis of fine-scale details observed using this approach, including banding structure interpreted as fusellae, Yuknessia Walcott, 1919 is transferred from the algae, where it resided for nearly a century, to the extant taxon Pterobranchia (Phylum Hemichordata). Considered as such, Yuknessia specimens from the Trilobite Beds and Spence Formation (Utah) are amongst the oldest known colonial pterobranchs. Two morphs regarded herein as two different species are recognized from the Trilobite Beds based on tubarium morphology. Yuknessia simplex has slender erect tubes whereas Yuknessia stephenensis n. sp., which is also known in Utah, has more robust erect tubes. The two paratypes of Y. simplex designated by Walcott (1919) are formally removed from Yuknessia and are reinterpreted respectively as an indeterminate alga and Dalyia racemata Walcott, 1919, a putative red alga.

An ichthyosaur forefin from the Triassic of British Columbia exemplifying Jurassic features

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1553-1560 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. McGowan
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
New Material ◽  
Important Site

New ichthyosaur material is reported from an Upper Triassic locality on Williston Lake, northeastern British Columbia. The paucity of ichthyosaurs from the Triassic of North America make this a potentially important site. An isolated forefin is described, which is unlike that of any Triassic species from North America but which compares closely with certain Lower Jurassic species from England and Germany. The new material suggests that the transition in the ichthyosaurian fauna at the close of the Triassic may have been less abrupt than was previously supposed.

POSTDIAPAUSE DEVELOPMENT AND ADULT EMERGENCE OF PTEROMALUS VENUSTUS WALKER (HYMENOPTERA: PTEROMALIDAE) DURING ALFALFA LEAFCUTTER BEE INCUBATION

1987 ◽  
Vol 119 (5) ◽  
pp. 491-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.H. Whitfield ◽  
K.W. Richards
Keyword(s):  
Adult Emergence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Light Traps ◽  
Megachile Rotundata ◽  
Timing Control ◽  
Influence Of Temperature ◽  
Influence Of Temperature On ◽  
Leafcutter Bee

Pteromalus venustus Walker is the most common parasitoid associated with the alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata (F.), in western Canada (Richards 1984). Leafcutter beekeepers in Canada and the United States use several methods to control P. venustus during incubation of leafcutter bee larvae, including light traps (Hobbs 1973; Richards 1984), dipping the cells in an insecticide (Brindley 1976; Parker 1979), and placing dichlorvos resin strips in the incubator (Hill et al. 1984). Previously we described the influence of temperature on survival and rate of development of the egg, larval, and pupal stages of non-diapausing P. venustus (Whitfield and Richards 1985). Here we report on the influence of temperature on rate of postdiapause development in P. venustus during leafcutter bee incubation and consider the value of this information for timing control measures for this parasitoid.

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