Adrian L. Carper
  • Research
  • About
  • Contact
  • Collaborators
  • Research Blog

An unlikely pollen source

8/8/2018

1 Comment

 
I observed a couple of two-spotted sunflower bees, Melissodes bimaculatus, foraging for pollen on this Floriani Red Flint corn in Boulder, CO. While it may seem strange, I observe bees foraging on corn and other grass for pollen fairly frequently. These could provide important resources if other host plants are scarce or may be used to supplement pollen provisions. These two bees returned repeatedly and filled their scopa up each time. You can easily see the yellow corn pollen packed onto their hind legs. 
1 Comment
Brian Dykstra link
8/8/2018 08:28:14 pm

Thank you for sharing. Bee use of grass pollen is an interesting topic. I have seen stingless bees (Melopinini) and Apis mellifera gather pollen from grasses. Dino Martin has written on this topic (location Kenya), and I would like to see a global overview, literature/observation summary, published.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Adrian Carper

    Picture
     I am a Postdoctoral Associate at CU-Boulder and have lead a number of projects studying patterns of native bee diversity in Colorado. Please enjoy your visit and contact me if you have any questions.

    Archives

    August 2018
    June 2017
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All

    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Research
  • About
  • Contact
  • Collaborators
  • Research Blog