Foraging behavioural patterns of solitary bees to Capsella recombinant plant lines vary with floral traits

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

3:06 PM – 3:18 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 221/222

Presenting Author(s)

Jaya Sravanthi Mokkapati

Postdoctoral Researcher
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

Co-Author(s)

MH

Michael Hill

Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
NB

Natalie Boyle

Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
BR

Benjamin Risse

University of Münster
Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
AS

Adrien Sicard

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Uppsala, Uppsala Lan, Sweden
Christina M. Grozinger

Publius Vergilius Maro Professor
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

Plant-pollinator interactions represent a core mutualism that supports terrestrial ecosystems and are vital for human agricultural production and food security. Because floral traits have co-evolved, it is challenging in natural ecosystems to identify the key traits responsible for driving pollinator attraction. By crossing a self-fertilizing C. rubella (Cr) and an outcrossing, pollinator dependent species C. grandiflora (Cg), we created recombinant inbred lines (RILs) that vary across floral traits. Here, we developed highly controlled experimental system to evaluate the mechanisms underlying foraging preferences of two solitary bee species, Osmia cornifrons and Megachile rotundata, to two parental and 20 RIL Capsella plant lines. In closed-space arenas, we recorded continuous foraging behavior of the experimental bee community and individual bees, while simultaneously standardizing for the number of foragers in the environment and differences in floral display of each plant. The experiments were conducted in two groups each with 12 different plant lines (2 parents and 10 RILs per test group) using 5 marked female bees per trial. We found significant differences in visitation rates, which varied between naïve and experienced bees. Evaluation of the floral traits associated with these behavioral patterns is ongoing. Our results will provide an unprecedented mechanistic understanding of how specialist and generalist pollination systems function and evolve by linking distinct aspects of pollinator foraging behavior with specific floral traits.