Metabarcoding Analysis of Pollen Species Foraged by Osmia excavata Alfken (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in China

To meet the pollination need of economic crops, Osmia excavata has been successfully used to improve the pollination efficiency of Rosaceae and Brassicaceae plants. As a widely used pollinator of economic crops, a systematic study of flower-visiting species and diversities of O. excavata stocked in China was not found. To investigate the foraging pollen species and diversities of O. excavata, beebread from 20 experimental plots in China was collected by the trap-nesting method and analyzed by DNA metabarcoding technology. A total of 26 pollen plants in 14 genera and nine families were identified. A further analysis showed that the richness and abundance of the wild flowering plants in orchards and farmlands were lower than those in the nearby semi-natural habitats. The favorite pollen comes from economic crops apple and rape and wild flowering plants Juncus interior, Rosa gymnocarpa, and Rosa laevigata. Through a diversity index analysis, it was found that the Anhui region has the highest pollen plant diversity, while the Liaoning region has the lowest. Our results can provide a basis for flower-visiting species and diversities of O. excavata.

ASPECTS OF CREATION OF THE NECTARIFEROUS AND POLLEN PLANTS REGISTRY AS A CONSTITUENT ELEMENT OF THE CADASTRE OF MELIFEROUS RESOURCES OF UKRAINE

Наведено визначення кадастру медоносних ресурсів України та відтворено особливості його створення. Зазначено, що основним елементом кадастру є реєстр пилко- та нектароносних рослин. Наведений реєстр є частиною кадастру рослинних ресурсів України, він деталізований для практичного використан- ня у бджільництві. Регіональний кадастр природних ресурсів є основою територіальних інформаційних систем, тому розроблення електронної картки нектаро- та пилконосної рослини дасть змогу швидко та об’єктивно вести облік медоносних ресурсів окремих територій. Розглянуто ряд аспектів (законодавчий, інформаційний, ресурсний, біобезпеки та природоохоронний) відносно створюваного кадастру медоносних ресурсів країни. Ключові слова: кадастр медоносних ресурсів, реєстр пилко- та нектароносних рослин, електронна картка медоноса.

Broad Protein Spectrum in Stored Pollen of Three Stingless Bees from the Chaco Dry Forest in South America (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini) and Its Ecological Implications

Protein content of pollen stored by three meliponine species was variable from 9.78% (less than half the value considered as optimal to brood development inApis mellifera) in typeCapparis tweediana-C. speciosato more than 26% in typeMaytenus vitis-idaeaand someProsopissamples. This pollen of low protein value was occasionally foraged (only six out of 75 masses analyzed ofG. argentina, but none in 86 masses ofT. fiebrigior in ten ofM. orbignyi). However, it is likely that amino acid deficiencies of certain pollens are compensated by randomly foraging on a broad spectrum of pollen plants. The large amounts of pollen stored in their nests might also be important in compensating these deficiencies. The only sample studied forM. orbignyishowed a protein value greater than the one required forA. melliferaand was dominated by typesAcacia praecoxandProsopis. As this species also prefersSolanumand other protein-rich pollen, more samples would need to be analyzed to establish whether protein requirements are high for thisMeliponaspecies. Pollen showing the highest protein content (>26%) belonged to highly nectariferous plants well represented in meliponine andApishoney such asProsopis,Maytenus, andZiziphus.