Mia G Park, Casey M Delphia, Cassandra Prince, George D Yocum, Joseph P Rinehart, Kevin M O’Neill, Laura A Burkle, Julia H Bowsher, Kendra J Greenlee Abstract Megachile rotundata (F.) is an important pollinator of alfalfa in the United States. Enhancing landscapes with wildflowers is a primary strategy for conserving pollinators and may improve the…

Campion, Claire; Rajamohan, Arun; Dillon, Michael E. Abstract Bumble bee (genus Bombus) populations are increasingly under threat from habitat fragmentation, pesticides, pathogens, and climate change. Climate change is likely a prime driver of bumble bee declines but the mechanisms by which changing climates alter local abundance, leading to shifts in geographic range are unclear. Heat…

Bennett, M. M., DeBardlabon, K. M., Rinehart, J. P., Yocum, G. D., and Greenlee, K. J. Abstract The success of agriculture relies on healthy bees to pollinate crops. Commercially managed pollinators are often kept under temperature-controlled conditions to better control development and optimize field performance. One such pollinator, the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, is…

Sarah Signor Abstract Transposable elements are abundant, dynamic components of the genome that affect organismal phenotypes and fitness. In Drosophila melanogaster, they have increased in abundance as the species spread out of Africa, and different populations differ in their transposable element content. However, very little is currently known about how transposable elements differ between individual…