Bee Community of Commercial Potato Fields in Michigan and Bombus impatiens Visitation to Neonicotinoid-Treated Potato Plants.

Amanda L Buchanan,Zsofia Szendrei,Jason Gibbs,Lidia Komondy

doi:10.3390/insects8010030

Abstract

We conducted a bee survey in neonicotinoid-treated commercial potato fields using bowl and vane traps in the 2016 growing season. Traps were placed outside the fields, at the field edges, and 10 and 30 m into the fields. We collected 756 bees representing 58 species, with Lasioglossum spp. comprising 73% of all captured bees. We found seven Bombus spp., of which B. impatiens was the only known visitor of potato flowers in our region. The majority of the bees (68%) were collected at the field edges and in the field margins. Blue vane traps caught almost four-times as many bees and collected 30% more species compared to bowl traps. Bee communities did not differ across trap locations but they were different among trap types. We tested B. impatiens visitation to neonicotinoid treated and untreated potato flowers in field enclosures. The amount of time bees spent at flowers and the duration of visits were not significantly different between the two treatments. Our results demonstrate that a diverse assemblage of bees is associated with an agroecosystem dominated by potatoes despite the apparent lack of pollinator resources provided by the crop. We found no difference in B. impatiens foraging behavior on neonicotinoid-treated compared to untreated plants.

Highlights

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L., Solanaceae) is the fourth main food-crop in the world after corn, wheat and rice [1], but is the only one of these that is not wind pollinated
Fifty-eight species of bees from 16 genera and five families were captured in potato field traps (Table 2)
In addition to the European honeybee Apis mellifera L., we found two exotic, but naturalized species, Lasioglossum zonulum (Smith) and L. leucozonium (Schrank) [48], but all other sampled species are native in our area

Summary

Introduction

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L., Solanaceae) is the fourth main food-crop in the world after corn, wheat and rice [1], but is the only one of these that is not wind pollinated. It is the leading vegetable crop in the United States in terms of production area and farm-gate value [2]. To many other members in the Solanaceae, it has prominent flowers during about two weeks of its growing season. Flower petals can be various shades of white, purple, pink or blue, and bright yellow cone-shaped anthers in the middle of the flower release pollen when vibrated [3]. Since potato flowers do not produce nectar, they attract pollen-collecting insects [5]. A few species of bees (Apoidea: Anthophila) have been recorded visiting potato flowers [3,5–9] but information on bees that can be found in or near potato fields is generally lacking

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Discussion

Conclusion