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<p>Phenological mismatches and resource limitations resulting from ongoing environmental change can have severe impacts on pollinator fitness. Recent findings show that bumblebee workers respond to pollen scarcity by damaging plant leaves in ways that can accelerate flowering, suggesting a mechanism by which direct information transfer from bees to plants might influence the timing of flower production. However, the ecological and adaptive significance of this interaction remains uncertain. Here we report that mated and unmated queens of <i>Bombus terrestris</i> also damage leaves, with similar effects on flowering. Furthermore, we document leaf damage by wild-caught queens from 12 species, spanning seven subgenera, indicating damaging behavior is widespread among <i>Bombus</i> species. Leaf damage by bumblebee queens may have particular relevance in the context of colony founding and early development, where the timely availability of local floral resources can be critical for colony success and fitness.</p><p></p>

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Leaf-damaging behavior by queens is widespread among bumblebee species

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月14日

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  • Priska Flury,
  • Sofie Stade,
  • Consuelo M. De Moraes,
  • Mark C. Mescher

摘要

Phenological mismatches and resource limitations resulting from ongoing environmental change can have severe impacts on pollinator fitness. Recent findings show that bumblebee workers respond to pollen scarcity by damaging plant leaves in ways that can accelerate flowering, suggesting a mechanism by which direct information transfer from bees to plants might influence the timing of flower production. However, the ecological and adaptive significance of this interaction remains uncertain. Here we report that mated and unmated queens of Bombus terrestris also damage leaves, with similar effects on flowering. Furthermore, we document leaf damage by wild-caught queens from 12 species, spanning seven subgenera, indicating damaging behavior is widespread among Bombus species. Leaf damage by bumblebee queens may have particular relevance in the context of colony founding and early development, where the timely availability of local floral resources can be critical for colony success and fitness.