A restraining device to aid identification of bees by digital photography

by James D. Thomson and Jessica L. Zung

Although pinned voucher specimens are the “gold standard” for identifying insects in surveys, in some circumstances it may be undesirable to kill the study subjects.  If insects can be caught be net and then released, digital photographs can record details that improve the accuracy of identifications.   We describe a simple piston-and-cylinder holding chamber that quickly, temporarily, and harmlessly restrains bees or similar insects for portraiture in the field.  Tested in large surveys of bumble bees in Colorado USA, this device was able to prevent a substantial number of misidentifications. 

Photograph: Students netting bumble bees near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado.  Recent surveys along elevational transects have been conducted for comparison to similar surveys carried out in 1974 (see Pyke GH, Inouye DW, Thomson JD (2011) Activity and abundance of bumble bees near Crested Butte, Colorado: diel, seasonal, and elevation effects. Ecological Entomology 36:511–521).  Because many pollination researchers work at the RMBL, its Research Committee asks investigators to minimize the killing of specimens.

Read the scientific publication in JPE.

Pollination ecology and floral visitor spectrum of turtlehead

by Leif L. Richardson and Rebecca E. Irwin

A bumble bee worker  collects  nectar and pollen from a turtlehead flower.

The majority of flowering plants engage in pollination mutualisms with animals in order to sexually reproduce, exchanging food rewards such as nectar and pollen for the service of pollen transfer between flowers. However, many animals that feed at flowers do not pollinate, and are thus better thought of as antagonists rather than mutualists. Outcomes of these interactions among plants and animals are strongly dependent on abundance and diversity of flower visitors, as well as timing and quality of reward presentation. Despite the importance of plants to structure and function of ecosystems, the pollination ecology of many flowering plants is poorly known.

In this study we investigated the mating system, floral visitors and pollen limitation of turtlehead (Chelone glabra L.), an eastern North America wetland herb. We found that the plant reproduces sexually by both self-pollination and outcrossing, but requires pollinator visitation to set seed. 
 

Read the whole summary in: English!
Read the scientific publication in JPE.