Assisted migration consists of the introduction of a species to previously inhabited areas or to new suitable regions. Such introductions have been touted as a viable tool for conserving earth's biodiversity. However, both the likely success of assisted migrations and the impacts on local communitie

Season length and its associated variables can influence the expression of social behaviors, including the occurrence of eusociality in insects. Among bees, ants, and wasps, social behaviors can vary widely across environmental gradients, both within and between different species. While numerous the

In the face of environmental change, including climate change, many organisms’ biological and ecological processes are being altered. Adult sex ratios are directly related to an organisms’ reproductive success and long-term viability. Understanding what influences sex ratios in the face of these cha

Parents can adjust both the size and number of offspring they produce in order to maximize their own fitness payoff (Smith & Fretwell 1974). Optimal parental investment is dependent in part on likelihood of offspring survival, which is impacted by predation and parasitism. When risk of predation or

As climate change continues to alter the abiotic environment, many organisms must adapt to survive. In montane systems where changes in elevation can present noticeable changes in temperature and moisture, many organisms may adapt to climate change by migrating to higher elevations. Bumble bees, whi

Many species of bumble bees (Bombus spp.) are experiencing population declines. In subalpine ecosystems, climate change is altering floral phenology by causing an earlier blooming period, which creates a growing season with sparser resources. Since bumble bees and their floral resources depend on ph

Geranium richardsonii was studied at three different elevations to determine if there was a change in the type of pollinator species that visited it. The purpose of this experiment was to test the hypothesis that flies are more abundant at higher elevations and replace bee species found at lower obs

We report a chromosome-level assembly for Pieris macdunnoughii, a North American butterfly whose involvement in an evolutionary trap imposed by an invasive Eurasian mustard has made it an emerging model system for studying maladaptation in plant-insect interactions. Assembled Downloaded from https:/

In eusocial insects, chemical communication is crucial for mediating many aspects of social activities, especially the regulation of reproduction. Though queen signals are known to decrease ovarian activation of workers in highly eusocial species, little is known about their evolution. In contrast,

In eusocial insects, chemical communication is crucial for mediating many aspects of social activities, especially the regulation of reproduction. Though queen signals are known to decrease ovarian activation of workers in highly eusocial species, little is known about their evolution. In contrast,

Many bee species are dietary specialists and restrict their pollen foraging to a subset of the available flowers. However, the reasons for specialization—and the reasons certain plant taxa support numerous specialists—are often unclear. Many bees specialize on the plant family Asteraceae, despite ev

Climate change affects species and their interactions, resulting in novel communities and modified ecosystem processes. Through shifts in phenology and distribution, climatic change can disrupt interactions, including those between mutualists. Mutualisms influence the structure and stability of comm

Global warming is extending growing seasons in temperate zones, yielding earlier wildflower blooms. Short-term field experiments with non-social bees showed that adult emergence is responsive to nest substrate temperatures. Nonetheless, some posit that global warming will decouple bee flight and hos

Dispersal is integral to the ecology and evolution of communities. Dispersal affects bacterial communities by impacting bacterial composition and diversity in many environments. One such environment is floral organs. Flowers are nutrient-rich environments for diverse and abundant microbes. Floral mi

Bumble bees are crucial pollinators in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. For effective conservation of this important group of pollinators, it is essential to understand their basic ecology, such as their interactions with floral food resources. In this study, we used a long-term dataset (5

✦ Bombus insularis With an increase of research into how climate change has ✦ Sphecodes sp. affected bees, only a fraction of that research has been ✦ Kleptoparasite conducted in relation to bees with parasitic life history strategies. Parasitic bees serve important ecological roles in the ✦ Social

Abstract North America has more than 4000 bee species, yet we have little information on the health, distribution, and population trends of most of these species. In the United States, what information is available is distributed across multiple institutions, and efforts to track bee populations are

Pollinator-mediated selection is expected to constrain floral color variation within plant populations. Here, we test for patterns of constraint on floral color variation in 38 bee- and/or hummingbird-pollinated plant species from Colorado, United States. We collected reflectance spectra for at leas