Crithidia bombi can infect two solitary bee species while host survivorship depends on diet.

Abstract

Pathogens and lack of floral resources interactively impair global pollinator health. However, epidemiological and nutritional studies aimed at understanding bee declines have historically focused on social species, with limited evaluations of solitary bees. Here, we asked whether Crithidia bombi, a trypanosomatid gut pathogen known to infect bumble bees, could infect the solitary bees Osmia lignaria (females) and Megachile rotundata (males), and whether nutritional stress influenced infection patterns and bee survival. We found that C. bombi was able to infect both solitary bee species, with 59% of O. lignaria and 29% of M. rotundata bees experiencing pathogen replication 5–11 days following inoculation. Moreover, access to pollen resulted in O. lignaria living longer, although it did not influence M. rotundata survival. Access to pollen did not affect infection probability or resulting pathogen load in either species. Similarly, inoculating with the pathogen did not drive survival patterns in either species during the 5–11-day laboratory assays. Our results demonstrate that solitary bees can be hosts of a known bumble bee pathogen, and that access to pollen is an important contributing factor for bee survival, thus expanding our understanding of factors contributing to solitary bee health.