Submission Type
Poster
Abstract
Cavity-nesting bees and wasps will lay eggs in hollow stems and other pre-made cavities and provision their larvae with food to overwinter until their emergence in spring. To observe the nesting patterns of these insects, we placed nesting boxes containing “bee tubes” made of hollow reeds in five locations around the SUNY Geneseo campus and photographed the tubes once a week over the summer as the tubes were gradually sealed off by insects to form larval cells. We took note of the type of material used to fill the tubes and then analyzed the trends in the phenology and site preferences of the various fill types using the photographic record. We found that the tubes filled up mostly with mud (the most common fill type) early in the summer and with the leaf material and grass (especially in the grassy back meadow of the Arboretum) in the second half of the summer and into the fall. Over the winter we dissected the tubes to determine their inhabitants and found the pupae of Eumeninae (Potter Wasps) in the mud-filled tubes, Megachilidae (Leaf-Cutter Bees) in the leaf-filled tubes, and Sphecidae (Grass-Carrying Wasps) in the grass-filled tubes. We also observed dead, undeveloped larvae and various, seemingly taxa-specific parasites in some of the tubes. A greater understanding of the nesting patterns of these bees and wasps can aid researchers in monitoring these taxa through nest boxes and provide information that can assist in maintaining strong, reproducing populations of these important insect species.
Recommended Citation
Lemon, Daniel, "179-Nesting Patterns of Cavity-Nesting Bees and Wasps" (2024). GREAT Day Posters. 47.
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/great-day-symposium/great-day-2024/posters-2024/47
179-Nesting Patterns of Cavity-Nesting Bees and Wasps
Cavity-nesting bees and wasps will lay eggs in hollow stems and other pre-made cavities and provision their larvae with food to overwinter until their emergence in spring. To observe the nesting patterns of these insects, we placed nesting boxes containing “bee tubes” made of hollow reeds in five locations around the SUNY Geneseo campus and photographed the tubes once a week over the summer as the tubes were gradually sealed off by insects to form larval cells. We took note of the type of material used to fill the tubes and then analyzed the trends in the phenology and site preferences of the various fill types using the photographic record. We found that the tubes filled up mostly with mud (the most common fill type) early in the summer and with the leaf material and grass (especially in the grassy back meadow of the Arboretum) in the second half of the summer and into the fall. Over the winter we dissected the tubes to determine their inhabitants and found the pupae of Eumeninae (Potter Wasps) in the mud-filled tubes, Megachilidae (Leaf-Cutter Bees) in the leaf-filled tubes, and Sphecidae (Grass-Carrying Wasps) in the grass-filled tubes. We also observed dead, undeveloped larvae and various, seemingly taxa-specific parasites in some of the tubes. A greater understanding of the nesting patterns of these bees and wasps can aid researchers in monitoring these taxa through nest boxes and provide information that can assist in maintaining strong, reproducing populations of these important insect species.