The Effect of Climate Change on Two Primitively Eusocial Bees
Abstract
High altitude regions are likely to be highly affected by climate change. Pollinators such as bees in these regions may have to change life history traits to survive. Because eusociality is associated with reduced mortality and increased resilience to resource variation, primitively eusocial bees may become increasingly social. Using data from 2010-2017 in the Irwin bees dataset, I evaluated the hypothesis that a warming climate will increase the probability of sociality in primitively eusocial bees. Social bees form two broods: one of workers, and one of breeders. Solitary bees typically have one brood. Measuring the difference in male and female emergence over time will allow me to assess sociality, that can be used to draw conclusions about the social status of bees known to be primitively eusocial. I would expect that bees that are eusocial will only produce males near the end of the female flight season, whereas bees that are solitary will produce males and females throughout their flight season. I found no significant effects, suggesting that Halictus virgatellus and Halictus rubicundus are not changing in sociality. A lack of male abundance data may also be influencing these trends. By better understanding changes in social strategies, it is possible to evaluate how a changing climate may affect the expression of life history traits which could buffer bees from the effects of climate warming.
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