Skip to main content
Entomology 2021 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
In-Person
In-Person
Livestream
Livestream
On-Demand
On-Demand
Student Competition
Student Competition
Video Chat
Video Chat
Ticketed Event
Ticketed Event
Poster Icons
Student Competition
Student Competition
In-Person
In-Person
Poster
Poster
On-Demand
On-Demand
Q&A ViewAttendees 7

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Undergrad MUVE and SysEB: Miscellaneous

Core microbiomes of solitary pollinators: comparison of native bees and flies (Hymenoptera: Anthophila; Diptera: Sryphidae)

Monday, November 1, 2021
8:12 AM – 8:24 AM MT
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Meeting Room 301-303
In-Person Student Competition
Reports of declining pollinator populations have spurred many to join a concentrated effort in conserving pollinator species because of their central role in both natural plant communities and agricultural crops. Previous studies have supported the importance of a healthy core microbiome to bee health. However, microbiomes bee species are not identical; knowledge about commercial honey bee and bumble bee microbiomes may not be applicable to solitary bees and other pollinator species (butterflies and flies). If an understanding of gut microbiota is to be translated to conservation efforts, it is necessary to study microbiome communities within solitary bees and other native pollinators. The goal of this study is to examine core microbiomes of solitary bee species and of pollinating flies (Syrphidae). These two functional groups share the resources of flower pollen and nectar as adults and could therefore exhibit similar core microbiota. However, these species utilize different larval food sources, introducing the possibility of distinctive differences in microbiomes. We collected pollinators in Eastern North Dakota and Northwestern Minnesota. We then dissected the specimens to remove the digestive system for DNA extraction to identify both pollinator species and associated microorganisms. We documented the species diversity of these communities using cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and ribosomal DNA. We identified their microbiomes using traditional and next generation sequencing approaches as well as established databases. We will discuss the overlapping and distinct components of the core microbiota for these key pollinator communities.