Data for: Sunflower pollen diets reduce infection in closely related bumble bee species

Parasite growth and infection success are often influenced by host diet.
Consuming sunflower pollen (Helianthus annuus) dramatically reduces
infection by the trypanosomatid gut parasite Crithidia in the model bumble
bee species Bombus impatiens, as well as two of its relatives in the
subgenus Pyrobombus. However, only five Bombus species out of 265 species
globally have been assessed, making results difficult to generalize. We
examined how consuming sunflower pollen affects Crithidia infection in two
previously untested species of bumble bees in the subgenus Pyrobombus,
Bombus perplexus and Bombus ternarius, compared to wild-caught B.
impatiens. Infected bees were fed either monofloral sunflower pollen, or
monofloral buckwheat pollen (Fagopyrum esculentum) as a control for seven
days, after which we counted the number of Crithidia cells in the gut and
compared infection intensity between buckwheat and sunflower diets in
these three species, while also examining how much of each diet they
consumed, and the amount of sucrose solution they consumed. We found that
sunflower pollen significantly reduced Crithidia infection in B.
impatiens, with comparable significant effects in B. perplexus and B.
ternarius. None of these effects were influenced by the quantity of pollen
or sucrose consumed. These results demonstrate that, at least for its
close relatives, B. impatiens is a good model species for understanding
the effects of diet on host interactions with a common gut parasite.