Nesting biology and phenology of a population of Halictus farinosus Smith (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) in northern Utah

Abstract

Nesting biology and phenology in an aggregation of the primitively eusocial ground-nesting bee Halictus farinosus were studied at Green Canyon, Utah from May to August, 2010. Nest architecture was typical of the genus. Nests were small with an average of 3.5 worker and 13.5 reproductive brood per colony. Most workers were mated (77.5%) and had ovarian development (73.4%). The queen-worker size differential was moderate (8.8% for head width and 6.2% for wing length), indicating that sociality in this species is of intermediate strength compared to other social Halictus species. Results from 2010 were compared with those from 1977/1978 and 2002. Varying weather patterns in the years of study led to changes in phenological milestones: in the colder and wetter spring of 2010, nesting behavior was delayed by up to two weeks compared to the other years. While nest productivity was comparable among years, in 2010 the size difference between queens and workers was significantly larger than in 2002, indicating an effect of annual variation in weather conditions on social parameters in this species.

Phenologically Targeted Grazing: A Potential Sustainable Strategy for Native Bees in Semiarid Rangelands

“…In the bunchgrass prairie system, the two dominant late-season species were Lasioglossum incompletum and Halictus tripartitus, and in the riparian meadow system they were H. tripartitus and H. ligatus . All three species are primitively eusocial generalists (Packer et al 2007; Minckley 2008; Sheffield et al 2014; Kremen and M'Gonigle 2015; Ponisio et al 2019). The ubiquitous range of these particular species of sweat bees and their dominance in bee communities have been documented in several other studies in North America (Packer et al 2007; Richards et al 2011; Ponisio et al 2019).…”

“…All three species are primitively eusocial generalists (Packer et al 2007; Minckley 2008; Sheffield et al 2014; Kremen and M'Gonigle 2015; Ponisio et al 2019). The ubiquitous range of these particular species of sweat bees and their dominance in bee communities have been documented in several other studies in North America (Packer et al 2007; Richards et al 2011; Ponisio et al 2019). At least two of these species ( L. incompletum and H. tripartitus ) appear to be fairly robust in the face of disturbance, being found in high quality and highly disturbed habitat alike (Sardiñas et al 2016; Ponisio et al 2019).…”

Behavior and nest architecture of the bee Caenohalictus alexandrei (Hymenoptera, Halictinae)

“…There have been suggestions that such aggregations are formed, at least in some species, to increase defenses against natural enemies (Michener et al, 1958;Sakagami & Michener, 1962;Michener, 1974). Such aggregations also result from a tendency for young adults to return to the vicinity of their natal nests (Albert & Packer, 2013;Michener, 1966). Michener et al (1958) have confirmed that groups appear as a result of innate aggregative factors of the bees in response to preferences of habitat requirements.…”