Data for impact of “non-lethal” tarsal clipping on bumble bees (Bombus vosnesenskii) may depend on queen stage and worker size

Recent bumble bee declines have prompted the development of novel population monitoring tools, including the use of putatively non-lethal tarsal clipping to obtain genetic material. However, the potential side effects of tarsal clipping have only been tested in the worker caste of a single domesticated species, prompting the need to more broadly test whether tarsal clipping negatively affects sampled individuals. To determine if tarsal clipping reduces queen survivorship and colony establishment, we collected wild queens of Bombus vosnesenskii and clipped tarsi from a single leg of half the individuals. We reared captive queens and estimated survivorship and nest establishment success. We also clipped tarsi of workers from a subset of colonies across a range of body sizes. We found no consistent negative effect of clipping on queen survival. In the first year, clipped nest-searching queens suffered heavy mortality, but there was no effect on foraging queens. The following year, we found...近年来熊蜂种群衰退推动了新型种群监测工具的研发，其中包括采用被认为无致死性的跗节剪取（tarsal clipping）法获取遗传物质。然而，跗节剪取的潜在副作用仅在单一驯养物种的工蜂品级（worker caste）中得到过验证，因此有必要开展更广泛的测试，以探明跗节剪取是否会对采样个体产生负面影响。为明确跗节剪取是否会降低蜂王存活率及蜂群建成率，我们采集了野生的沃氏熊蜂（*Bombus vosnesenskii*）蜂王，并对半数个体的单足跗节进行剪取。我们对捕获的蜂王进行人工饲养，并估算其存活率与巢群建成成功率。此外，我们还对取自多个蜂群子集、体型范围各异的工蜂进行了跗节剪取。研究未发现跗节剪取对蜂王存活存在一致的负面影响：在第一年实验中，经剪取处理的寻巢蜂王死亡率较高，但对觅食蜂王无显著影响。次年，我们发现……