Effects of temperature and wildflowers on survival and macronutrient stores of the alfalfa leafcutting bee under extended cold storage

Megachile rotundata (F.) is an important pollinator of alfalfa in the United States. Enhancing landscapes with wildflowers is a primary strategy for conserving pollinators and may improve sustainability of M. rotundata. Changing cold storage temperatures from a traditionally static thermal regime (STR) to a fluctuating thermal regime (FTR) improves overwintering success and extends M. rotundata’s shelf life and pollination window. Whether floral resources enhance overwintering survival and/or interact with thermal regime are unknown. With these data sets we tested the combined effects of enhancing alfalfa fields with wildflowers and thermal regime on survival and macronutrient stores under extended cold storage (i.e., beyond one season). Megachile rotundata adults were released in alfalfa plots with and without wildflower strips summer 2017. Completed nests were harvested in September 2017 and stored in STR. After a year, cells were randomly assigned to remain in STR for 6 months or in FTR for a year of extended cold storage; emergence rates were observed monthly. Macronutrient levels (i.e., sugars, glycogen, trehalose and total lipids) of newly emerged females were assessed. 

Methods
For methods see: Park et al. 2022. Effects of Temperature and Wildflower Strips on Survival and Macronutrient Stores of the Alfalfa Leafcutting Bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) Under Extended Cold Storage. Environmental Entomology