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The American Naturalist
Article
License: CC BY NC
Data sources: UnpayWall
The American Naturalist
Article . 2019 . Peer-reviewed
Data sources: Crossref
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Omnivory in Bees: Elevated Trophic Positions among All Major Bee Families

Authors: Steffan, Shawn A.; Dharampal, Prarthana S.; Danforth, Bryan N.; Gaines-Day, Hannah R.; Takizawa, Yuko; Chikaraishi, Yoshito;

Omnivory in Bees: Elevated Trophic Positions among All Major Bee Families

Abstract

As pollen and nectar foragers, bees have long been considered strictly herbivorous. Their pollen provisions, however, are host to abundant microbial communities, which feed on the pollen before and/or while it is consumed by bee larvae. In the process, microbes convert pollen into a complex of plant and microbial components. Since microbes are analogous to metazoan consumers within trophic hierarchies, the pollen-eating microbes are, functionally, herbivores. When bee larvae consume a microbe-rich pollen complex, they ingest proteins from plant and microbial sources and thus should register as omnivores on the trophic "ladder." We tested this hypothesis by examining the isotopic compositions of amino acids extracted from native bees collected in North America over multiple years. We measured bee trophic position across the six major bee families. Our findings indicate that bee trophic identity was consistently and significantly higher than that of strict herbivores, providing the first evidence that omnivory is ubiquitous among bee fauna. Such omnivory suggests that pollen-borne microbes represent an important protein source for larval bees, which introduces new questions as to the link between floral fungicide residues and bee development.

Country
Japan
Keywords

trophic, Microbiota, 480, microbiome, Bees, Diet, Isotopes, pollen, Larva, North America, compound-specific isotopic analysis, Animals, Pollen, Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Amino Acids, delta N-15

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
64
Top 1%
Top 10%
Top 1%
hybrid