Senescence and early-life performance as predictors of lifespan in a solitary bee

Performance tends to decline with age, including muscle function and stress tolerance. Yet, performance can vary widely among individuals within the same age group, showing that chronological age does not always represent biological age. To better understand ageing, we need to examine what drives some individuals to age faster than others. In order to achieve this, first we need to be able to predict whether an individual will have a long or short lifespan. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal study tracking individual-level locomotor activity, chill-coma recovery time, and metabolic rates, and assessed whether early-life performance is linked to lifespan using the solitary bee Megachile rotundata. We found that locomotor activity and chill-coma recovery times decline in old adults. However, resting metabolic rate did not change with age. We also found low cold tolerance and low mass at emergence in early-life are linked to shorter female lifespans, showing that early-life perform..., All details of methods used for data collection and processing can be found in the Materials and Methods Section of Szejner-Sigal et al. 2025. Senescence and early-life performance as predictors of lifespan in a solitary bee. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences., , # Data from: Senescence and early-life performance as predictors of lifespan in a solitary bee

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j9kd51cq3](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j9kd51cq3)

## Description of the data and file structure

This README file was generated on 2025-2-18 by Andre Szejner-Sigal

GENERAL INFORMATION

1\. Title of Dataset: Dataset: Senescence and early-life performance as predictors of lifespan in a solitary bee

2\. Author Information

A. Principal Investigator Contact Information

Name: Andre Szejner-Sigal

Institution: North Dakota State University, Biological Sciences Department

Address: 1340 Bolley Drive, 201 Stevens Hall Fargo, ND 58102

Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

3\. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): Apr - Sep 2023

4\. Geographic location of data collection: Data collected at North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58102

5\. Information about funding sources that supported the collecti...,