Upcoming Talk by Courtney Grula St. Louis, Missouri The influence of body size on metabolic rate in Megachile rotundata Monday, November 18th, 11:10am-11:20am America’s Center – Room 267 Megachile rotundata is a commercially-reared, solitary, pollinator used in alfalfa seed production. Adult body size in these solitary bees is variable because it is determined by the…

Ph.D. Student Courtney is a PhD student in Dr. Julia Bowsher’s lab studying  two species of solitary bees, Megachile rotundata, alfalfa leafcutting bee and Osmia lignaria, blue orchard bee. Her expertise is in nutrition and development of solitary bees. Currently, she is working on determining how insect nutritional quantity affects rate of development and how…

The goal of the Insect Cryobiology and Ecophysiology (ICE) Network is to understand how bees overcome harsh winter conditions to successfully emerge and reproduce in spring. North American bees spend most of their lives overwintering in a physiological state that protects them from the damage caused by low temperatures and conserves resources necessary for reproduction…

Insects exposed to low temperature stress can experience chill injury, but incorporating fluctuating thermoprofiles increases survival and blocks the development of sub-lethal effects. The specific parameters required for a protective thermoprofile are poorly understood, because most studies test a limited range of thermoprofiles. For example, thermoprofiles with a wave profile may perform better than a…