ICE Network Fargo

Size constrains oxygen delivery capacity within but not between bumble bee castes in Bombus impatiens

Rikki Walter, Joseph. P. Rinehart, Michael E. Dillon, and Kendra. J. Greenlee Abstract Bumble bees are eusocial, with distinct worker and queen castes that vary strikingly in size and life-history. The smaller workers rely on energetically-demanding foraging flights to collect resources for rearing brood. Queens can be 3 to 4 times larger than workers, flying…

A dose of experimental hormesis: When mild stress protects and improves animal performance

Raymond Berry, III and Giancarlo López-Martínez Abstract The adaptive response characterized by a biphasic curve is known as hormesis. In a hormesis framework, exposure to low doses leads to protective and beneficial responses while exposures to high doses are damaging and detrimental. Comparative physiologists have studied hormesis for over a century, but our understanding of…

Adaptation to the abiotic environment in insects: the influence of variability on ecophysiology and evolutionary genomics

Michael E Dillon, Jeffrey D Lozier Abstract Advances in tools to gather environmental, phenotypic, and molecular data have accelerated our ability to detect abiotic drivers of variation across the genome-to-phenome spectrum in model and non-model insects. However, differences in the spatial and temporal resolution of these data sets may create gaps in our understanding of…

Fluctuating thermal regimes prevent chill injury but do not change patterns of oxidative stress in the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata

Alex S Torson, George D Yocum, Joseph P Rinehart, Sean A Nash, Julia H Bowsher Abstract In insects, prolonged exposure to unseasonably low temperatures can lead to detrimental physiological effects known as chill injury. Changes to active and passive transport across epithelia during chilling likely drive the collapse of ion gradients, metabolic imbalance and potentially…

Life stage and the environment as effectors of transposable element activity in two bee species

Sarah Signor, George Yocum, Julia Bowsher Published: January, 2022 Abstract Diapause is a complex physiological phenomenon that allows insects to weather stressful environmental conditions. The regulation of diapause is accordingly complex, including signaling pathways that involve both small RNA and mRNA and affect the cell cycle, stress resistance, and developmental timing. Transposable elements, mobile genetic…

Thermal history of alfalfa leafcutting bees affects nesting and diapause incidence

Earls, Kayla, Porter, Monique, Rinehart, Joseph P., and Greenlee, Kendra J. Published: November 26, 2021 Abstract Variable spring temperatures may expose developing insects to sublethal conditions, resulting in long-term consequences. The alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, overwinters as a prepupa inside a brood cell, resuming development in spring. During these immobile stages of development, bees…

2023 Pollination Nation

Application open December 1, 2022 – January 15, 2023 Program Dates: May 30 – August 4, 2023 (10 weeks)Salary and Housing: $5000 ($500/week). For participants from outside Fargo, housing will be provided on NDSU campus.Travel: Travel funds are available upon request on a first come, first served basis. The Bowsher and Greenlee Labs in the…

Madison Floden

Madison Floden is a M.S. Biology student at North Dakota State University. Her expertise includes Megachile rotundata in vitro rearing and treatments, Micro-cell DSC, Glycerol assays, Triglyceride assays, and Microelectrodes. Madison is currently finishing research on Megachile rotundata and preparing to transition to the sugar beet root maggot and microelectrode ion research pre and post…