Search Results (4)

Bumblebee species are vital wild pollinators, providing essential pollination services for various crops, fruits, and vegetables. However, their biodiversity is vulnerable to decline due to climate change, particularly in regions like northern Pakistan. Despite this, no research has yet been conducted on the distribution patterns of bumblebee species in this region. The current study aimed to model the spatial distribution of three important bumblebee species: Bombus haemorrhoidalis, B. rufofasciatus, and B. subtypicus in northern Pakistan. Habitat suitability and the contribution of bioclimatic variables to the spatial distribution of species were assessed using the MaxEnt approach. Current and future bioclimatic variables, along with presence-only records of three bumblebee species, were incorporated into the species distribution model. The results indicated that nearly 96% of the area (43 out of 45 cities in northern Pakistan) showed habitat suitability for all three species in the current scenario. Among these 43 cities, five exhibited a 100% overlap in suitable areas for the three species. However, this overlap area is expected to decrease in the future, particularly by the middle of the 21st century, highlighting these regions as prime candidates for conservation. In terms of bioclimatic factors influencing spatial distribution, the study found that temperature-related variables played a more significant role than precipitation-related ones in current and future scenarios. Specifically, bio3 (isothermality) contributed 48% to B. haemorrhoidalis and 43% to B. rufofasciatus, while bio2 (mean diurnal range) was the most influential factor for B. subtypicus. Temperature-related variables accounted for more than 80%, 69.4%, and 78.3% of the spatial variation in B. haemorrhoidalis, B. rufofasciatus, and B. subtypicus, respectively. This study demonstrates the critical influence of temperature on the spatial distribution of bumblebee species in northern Pakistan, underscoring the need for climate-focused conservation strategies to protect these important wild pollinators. Full article

Greenhouse tomato production is a growing business worldwide, and it is strongly promoted by bumblebee pollination. Although there are over 250 bumblebee species worldwide, very few species have been reared successfully for greenhouse tomato pollination. Those successfully managed species, especially Bombus terrestris, are shipped around the world for commercial use. However, managed bumblebees are known to escape greenhouse facilities, have established local populations, spread disease to local bumblebees, and are blamed for the declines of some indigenous bee species. An alternative to shipping exotic bumblebees around the world is to develop local species for greenhouse pollination. Such an approach has the dual benefits of creating a new industry of insect rearing while reducing threats to local bee communities. In this study, we successfully reared Bombus haemorrhoidalis, which is the most common bumblebee species in Northern Pakistan, in a laboratory and compared its effectiveness as a tomato pollinator with that of commercial B. terrestris in a greenhouse. We found that the effectiveness of B. haemorrhoidalis in tomato pollination in a greenhouse is very similar to that of B. terrestris when it comes to the fruit size, number of seeds, and fruit weight. Our study provides an example of how to rear a native bumblebee species to pollinate local crops, which is a method that could potentially substitute the importation of non-ingenious bumblebees. Full article

Pollination and pollinators are major keys in the working of almost all terrestrial ecosystems. Bumblebees are the key pollinators belonging to the family Apidae. Their large and fuzzy body makes them more efficient pollinators than any other bee. Because of their thermoregulatory abilities, they can efficiently and effectively work in the cold climate of the Himalayan region. This study is conducted in the Dehradun valley of Uttarakhand, India, which is situated in the foothills of the Shiwalik hills of Himalaya. It is a preliminary study of the foraging behavior of bumblebees in this region, and it is observed that they mainly forage on species of the families Asteraceae, Verbenaceae, Tropaeolaceae, Solanaceae and Bignoneaceae. Full article

Mutillid wasps are ectoparasitic insects that parasitize the enclosed developmental stages of their hosts. Adults are sexually dimorphic, with brilliantly colored and hardened cuticles. The biology of parasitic mutillid wasps has rarely been addressed. Here, we investigated the parasitization by Mutilla europaea on an important pollinator, Bombus breviceps. The parasitic biology and dispersal ability of M. europaea were observed and tested under experimental conditions. We provide the first record of M. europaea parasitizing B. breviceps in southwestern China. As is the case with other bumblebee species, M. europaea mainly parasitized the puparia of males. The dispersal and invasion ability of this parasite under experimental conditions indicates that it spreads rapidly, as far as 20 m in one week, and invades different hosts (B. breviceps and Bombus haemorrhoidalis). This report not only clarifies the parasitic relationship between M. europaea and B. breviceps, but also has important ecological implications for the conservation of bumblebees in China. Full article