The floral hosts and distribution of a supposed creosote bush specialist, Colletes stepheni Timberlake (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

Colletes stepheni Timberlake, previously thought to be a narrow oligolege of Larrea (creosote bush) of limited distribution in the Sonoran Desert, is found to be a much more widely distributed psammophile of the Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin Deserts that utilizes two unrelated plant pollen sources, Larrea (Zygophyllaceae) and Psorothamnus (Fabaceae). The geologic history of the region suggests a potential host shift from the more ancient occupant, Psorothamnus, to the Neogene colonizer, Larrea

Megachile (Megachile) montivaga (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) nesting in live thistle (Asteraceae: Cirsium)

Although Megachile Latreille (leafcutter bees) are well known for their diverse nesting habits, records of the genus nesting in live plants are rare.  Here, we report the widespread Megachile (Megachile) montivaga Cresson nesting in live thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum Gray), the first explicit record of this behavior in the Nearctic

The lithurgine bees of Australia (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), with a note on Megachile rotundipennis

Austrothurgus Gonzalez & Engel, new genus, is described and figured for three species of lithurgine bees (Megachilidae: Lithurginae: Lithurgini) from Australia. Austrothurgus is distinguished from other Lithurginae by the presence of arolia in males (absent in females), first flagellomere long in both sexes, female facial prominence mostly involving the base of clypeus, and male metabasitarsus with distinct, elevated carina on its inner surface. Austrothurgus malgaru Gonzalez, Engel, & Griswold, new species, from Western Australia is also described and figured. A neotype is designated for Lithurgus dentipes Smith and lectotypes for L. atratus Smith, L. cognatus Smith, and L. rubricatus Smith. The following two new combinations are established: A. cognatus (Smith) and A. rubricatus (Smith). An updated key to the genera of Lithurgini as well as diagnoses, illustrations, and a key to the species occurring in Australia are provided. Taxonomic notes and a new lectotype designation for the Indo-Pacific species Megachile (Eutricharaea) rotundipennis Kirby are also appended

Association of the female of Perdita (Xeromacrotera) cephalotes (Cresson), and a replacement name for Perdita bohartorum Parker (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae)

The monotypic Perdita subgenus Xeromacrotera Timberlake is currently known only from the male sex. Here, the female of Perdita (Xeromacrotera) cephalotes (Cresson, 1878) is associated, resulting in two new junior synonyms of P. (X.) cephalotes: Perdita (Procockerellia) excellens Timberlake, 1958, new synonym and Perdita (Cockerellia) autumnalis Timberlake, 1977, new synonym. The true number of maxillary palpi are reported, and updated subgeneric and species diagnoses are provided. In addition, Perdita boharti Portman & Griswold, new name, is designated as a replacement name for the primary junior homonym P. bohartorum Parker, 1983 (not P. bohartorum Timberlake, 1956) and is assigned to the related subgenus Cockerellia Ashmead

Checklist of Bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) From Managed Emergent Wetlands in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas

Background Here we present the results from a two-year bee survey conducted on 18 managed emergent wetlands in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley of Arkansas, USA. Sample methods included pan traps, sweep netting and blue-vane traps. We document 83 bee species and morphospecies in 5 families and 31 genera, of which 37 species represent first published state records for Arkansas. The majority of species were opportunistic wetland species; only a small number were wetland-dependent species or species largely restricted to alluvial plains. New information We present new distributional records for bee species not previously recorded in managed emergent wetlands and report specimens of thirty-seven species for which no published Arkansas records exist, expanding the known ranges of Ceratina cockerelli, Diadasia enavata, Lasioglossum creberrimum, Svastracressonii and Dieunomia triangulifera. We also distinguish opportunistic wetland bee species from wetland-dependent and alluvial plain-restricted species

Decades of Native Bee Biodiversity Surveys at Pinnacles National Park Highlight the Importance of Monitoring Natural Areas Over Time

Thousands of species of bees are in global decline, yet research addressing the ecology and status of these wild pollinators lags far behind work being done to address similar impacts on the managed honey bee. This knowledge gap is especially glaring in natural areas, despite knowledge that protected habitats harbor and export diverse bee communities into nearby croplands where their pollination services have been valued at over $3 billion per year. Surrounded by ranches and farmlands, Pinnacles National Park in the Inner South Coast Range of California contains intact Mediterranean chaparral shrubland. This habitat type is among the most valuable for bee biodiversity worldwide, as well as one of the most vulnerable to agricultural conversion, urbanization and climate change. Pinnacles National Park is also one of a very few locations where extensive native bee inventory efforts have been repeated over time. This park thus presents a valuable and rare opportunity to monitor long-term trends and baseline variability of native bees in natural habitats. Fifteen years after a species inventory marked Pinnacles as a biodiversity hotspot for native bees, we resurveyed these native bee communities over two flowering seasons using a systematic, plot-based design. Combining results, we report a total of 450 bee species within this 109km2 natural area of California, including 48 new species records as of 2012 and 95 species not seen since 1999. As far as we are aware, this species richness marks Pinnacles National Park as one of the most densely diverse places known for native bees. We explore patterns of bee diversity across this protected landscape, compare results to other surveyed natural areas, and highlight the need for additional repeated inventories in protected areas over time amid widespread concerns of bee declines

Predicting Changes in Bee Assemblages Following State Transitions at North American Dryland Ecotones

Drylands worldwide are experiencing ecosystem state transitions: the expansion of some ecosystem types at the expense of others. Bees in drylands are particularly abundant and diverse, with potential for large compositional differences and seasonal turnover across ecotones. To better understand how future ecosystem state transitions may influence bees, we compared bee assemblages and their seasonality among sites at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (NM, USA) that represent three dryland ecosystem types (and two ecotones) of the southwestern U.S. (Plains grassland, Chihuahuan Desert grassland, and Chihuahuan Desert shrubland). Using passive traps, we caught bees during two-week intervals from March–October, 2002–2014. The resulting dataset included 302 bee species and 56 genera. Bee abundance, composition, and diversity differed among ecosystems, indicating that future state transitions could alter bee assemblage composition in our system. We found strong seasonal bee species turnover, suggesting that bee phenological shifts may accompany state transitions. Common species drove the observed trends, and both specialist and generalist bee species were indicators of ecosystem types or months; these species could be sentinels of community-wide responses to future shifts. Our work suggests that predicting the consequences of global change for bee assemblages requires accounting for both within-year and among-ecosystem variation

Pheromone Lure and Trap Color Affects Bycatch in Agricultural Landscapes of Utah

Aerial traps, using combinations of color and attractive lures, are a critical tool for detecting and managing insect pest populations. Yet, despite improvements in trap efficacy, collection of nontarget species (“bycatch”) plagues many insect pest surveys. Bycatch can influence survey effectiveness by reducing the available space for target species and increasing trap screening time, especially in areas where thousands of insects are captured as bycatch in a given season. Additionally, bycatch may negatively impact local nontarget insect populations, including beneficial predators and pollinators. Here, we tested the effect of pheromone lures on bycatch rates of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Apoidea (Hymenoptera), and nontarget Lepidoptera. Multicolored (primarily yellow and white) bucket traps containing a pheromone lure for capturing one of three survey target species, Spodoptera litura (F.), S. littoralis (Boisduval), or Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), were placed in alfalfa and corn fields, and compared to multicolored traps without a pheromone lure. All-green traps with and without H. armigera lures were employed in a parallel study investigating the effect of lure and trap color on bycatch. Over 2,600 Coccinellidae representing seven species, nearly 6,400 bees in 57 species, and \u3e9,000 nontarget moths in 17 genera were captured across 180 traps and seven temporal sampling events. Significant effects of lure and color were observed for multiple taxa. In general, nontarget insects were attracted to the H. armigera lure and multicolored trap, but further studies of trap color and pheromone lure specificity are needed to better understand these interactions and to minimize nontarget captures