A5032212377- Plant and animal studies
- Insect and Pesticide Research
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Animal and Plant Science Education
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- T-cell and B-cell Immunology
- Innovative Teaching Methodologies in Social Sciences
- Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Lichen and fungal ecology
- Bee Products Chemical Analysis
- vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- Aquaculture disease management and microbiota
- Invertebrate Immune Response Mechanisms
- Psychedelics and Drug Studies
University of California, Riverside
2016-2025
The University of Texas at Austin
2014-2015
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2011-2013
Eusociality has arisen independently at least 11 times in insects. Despite this convergence, there are striking differences among eusocial lifestyles, ranging from species living small colonies with overt conflict over reproduction to which contain hundreds of thousands highly specialized sterile workers produced by one or a few queens. Although the evolution eusociality been intensively studied, genetic changes involved relatively unknown. We examined patterns molecular across three...
As increasingly large molecular data sets are collected for phylogenomics, the conflicting phylogenetic signal among gene trees poses challenges to resolve some difficult nodes of Tree Life. Among these nodes, position honey bees (Apini) within corbiculate bee group remains controversial, despite its considerable importance understanding emergence and maintenance eusociality. Here, we show that this controversy stems in part from pervasive conflicts GC-rich trees. genes typically have a high...
ABSTRACT The overwhelming majority of research on wild bumble bees has focused the social colony stage. Nest‐founding queens in early season are difficult to study because incipient nests challenging find and foundress queen flight period is very short relative entire nesting period. As a result, natural history information exceedingly rare. New methodological approaches needed adequately this elusive life We trap‐nested artificial nest boxes Gothic, Colorado used custom‐built radio...
Bumblebees are among the world's most important groups of pollinating insects in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Each spring, queen bumblebees emerge from overwintering initiate new nests, which ultimately give rise to workers reproductives later season. Nest initiation survival thus key drivers both bumblebee pollination services population dynamics. We performed first laboratory experiment with model species Bombus impatiens that explores how early nesting success is impacted by...
Many insects sequester nutrients during developmentally programmed periods, which they metabolize subsequent life history stages. During these failure to store adequate can have persistent effects on fitness. Here, we examined a critical but under-studied nutrient storage period in queen bumble bees: the first days of adult life, are followed by diapause typically coinciding with winter. We experimentally manipulated availability pollen (the primary dietary source lipids and protein) sugar...
Many diapausing insects undergo a nutrient storage period prior to their entry into diapause. Bumble bee queens diapause as adults in the winter preceding spring nest initiation period. Before diapause, they sequester glycogen and lipids, which metabolize during overwintering We used RNA sequencing examine how age nectar diet (specifically, concentration of sucrose nectar) impact gene expression pre-overwintering bumble queen fat body, "liver-like" organ with broad functions related...
Sibling care is a hallmark of social insects, but its evolution remains challenging to explain at the molecular level. The hypothesis that sibling evolved from ancestral maternal in primitively eusocial insects has been elaborated involve heterochronic changes gene expression. This elaboration leads prediction workers these species will show patterns expression more similar foundress queens, who express behaviour, than established queens engaged solely reproductive behaviour. We tested this...
Introduction Bee conservation in the US is currently hindered by challenges associated with assessing status and trends of a diverse group >3000 species, many which are rare, endemic to small areas, and/or exhibit high inter-annual variationin population size. Fundamental information about distribution most species across space time, thus, lacking yet urgently needed assess status, guide plans, prioritize actions among geographies. Methods Using wild bee data from two public...
As the global agricultural footprint expands, it is increasingly important to address link between resource pulses characteristic of monoculture farming and wildlife epidemiology. To understand how mass-flowering crops impact host communities subsequently amplify or dilute parasitism, we surveyed wild managed bees in a landscape with varying degrees floral diversification. We screened 1509 from 16 genera sunflower fields non-crop flowering habitat across 200 km 2 California Central Valley....
A key component of assessing bee biodiversity patterns and supporting conservation is documenting communities. When integrated with additional ecological data, community-level data help reveal the relative impact local- landscape-scale factors on taxa. As such, these can inform management decisions to support diversity mitigate environmental drivers decline. However, methods for sampling communities vary greatly across projects, making it difficult compare existing datasets or design new,...
This protocol provides guidance on the appropriate collection of bee specimens or tissue samples for molecular analysis, with an emphasis generating genetic and genomic data while ensuring integrity. Specifically, focuses storage methods, including relevant specimen metadata recording reporting, but does not cover any downstream handling analyses, which vary depending aims a given project study. is specifically designed freshly collected, individual intended genetic, genomic, other analyses....
Current bee monitoring efforts have a limited capacity for understanding factors affecting wild population changes, including the effects of management. To improve effectiveness monitoring, we first discuss principles biological and provide framework to design projects estimate species occupancy, where occupancy is defined as probability that Sampling Unit or site occupied by focal species. Monitoring practitioners should define desired goal question secondly select appropriate state...
Internal parasites and pathogens have not been a focus of wild bee systematic data collection efforts to-date but are important to document because they strongly linked declines. Here, we provide standardized protocol for collecting fresh tissue samples generating parasite pathogen data. The emphasizes appropriate handling storage conditions standards. It can be embedded within health monitoring projects or used by individual that aim generate now in the future. This is part series developed...
ABSTRACT Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires worldwide. Although are typically viewed as destructive, emerging research suggests they may have benefits for some species, including pollinators. One reason this that can increase floral resource availability in years immediately following burn, potentially creating more favorable conditions pollinator foraging reproduction. In study, we focused on how 2021 KNP Complex Fire impacted bumble bee Bombus vosnesenskii...
Abstract Background Evolution has shaped diverse reproductive investment strategies, with some organisms integrating environmental cues into their decisions. In animal societies, social can further influence decisions in ways that might support the survival and success of group. Bumble bees are a lineage eusocial insects wherein queens initiate nests independently. bee enter phase only after successfully rearing first offspring thereafter exhibit an increased rate egg-laying. We tested idea...
During the nest-founding phase of bumble bee colony cycle, queens undergo striking changes in maternal care behavior. Early founding phase, prior to emergence workers nest, are reproductive and also provision feed their offspring. However, later reduce feeding larvae become specialized on reproduction. This transition is synchronized with colony, who assume task siblings. Using a social manipulation experiment Bombus terrestris, we tested hypothesis that regulate from brood specialization...
Bumble bees are generalist pollinators that typically collect floral rewards from a wide array of flowering plant species. Among the greatest threats to wild bumble bee populations worldwide, many which declining, is loss resource abundance and diversity in landscapes they inhabit. We examined how composition pollen diet impacts early nesting success laboratory-reared queens Bombus impatiens. Specifically, we provided their young nests with one three diets, each was dominated by single type,...