Data from: Introduced bees (Osmia cornifrons) collect pollen from both coevolved and novel host-plant species within their family-level phylogenetic preferences

Studying the pollen preferences of introduced bees allows us to
investigate how species utilize host-plants when establishing in new
environments. Osmia cornifrons is a solitary bee
introduced into North America from East-Asia for pollination of crops in
the Rosaceae. We investigated whether O. cornifrons 1)
more frequently collected pollen from host-plant species they coevolved
with from their geographic origin, or 2) prefer hosts-plant species of
specific plant taxa independent of origin. To address this question, using
pollen metabarcoding we examined the identity and relative abundance of
pollen in larval provisions from nests located in different habitats with
varying abundance of East-Asian and non-Asian plant species. Our results
show that O. cornifrons disproportionately, yet not
exclusively, collected pollen from their native range. Plants in the
family Rosaceae were their most preferred pollen hosts, where they
differentially collected species native to East-Asia, Europe, or North
America depending on the landscape. Our results suggest that
while O. cornifrons more frequently collect pollen of
East-Asian origin, the collection of pollen from novel species within
their phylogenetic familial affinities can facilitate pollinator
establishment. This phylogenetic preference highlights the effectiveness
of O. cornifrons as crop pollinators of a variety of
Rosaceae crops from different geographic origins. Ourresults imply that
globalization of non-native plant species may ease the naturalization of
their coevolved pollinators outside of their native range.