No abstract

Systemic fungal endophytes of grasses can produce high concentrations of alkaloids that are known to deter invertebrate herbivores and reduce their abundance, especially in agronomic grasses. Grass endophytes may also influence invertebrate community diversity and composition. Here, we examined in a common garden experiment with wild tall fescue plants and the agronomic cultivar Kentucky 31, whether infection by Neotyphodium coenophialum, the genetic background (origin) of the host plant, abiotic factors, and their interactions affected the invertebrate communities living on tall fescue. We collected a total of 18650 invertebrates from the 480 tall fescue plants, identified them to 97 morphological taxa (mainly to family level) representing five feeding guilds (herbivores, detritivores, omnivores, predators and parasitoids). In contrast to past literature, endophyte infection did not affect abundances of any taxon or feeding guild, or taxonomic diversity and the composition of the invertebrate community. Instead, the invertebrate community of native tall fescue appears to be primarily driven by environmental conditions and niche differentiation among taxonomical groups of invertebrates. We propose that community approaches are required to understand of the role of endophytes on arthropod abundances and diversity in nature.

No abstract

The worldwide decline and local extinctions of bumblebees have raised a need for fast and accurate tools for species identification. Morphological characters are often not sufficient, and molecular methods have been increasingly used for reliable identification of bumblebee species. Molecular methods often require high-quality DNA which makes them less suitable for analysis of low-quality or older samples. We modified the PCR-RFLP protocol for an efficient and cost-effective identification of four bumblebee species in the subgenus Bombus s. str. (B. lucorum, B. terrestris, B. magnus and B. cryptarum). We used a short partial mitochondrial COI fragment (446 bp) and three diagnostic restriction enzymes (Hinf I, Hinc II and Hae III) to identify species from degraded DNA material. This approach allowed us to efficiently determine the correct species from all degraded DNA samples, while only a subset of samples 64.6% (31 of 48) resulted in successful amplification of a longer COI fragment (1064 bp) using the previously described method. This protocol can be applied for conservation and management of bumblebees within this subgenus and is especially useful for fast species identification from degraded samples.

Abstract. Northern bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) with annual lifecycles depend both on energy stores remaining in their fat body after diapause and a few spring flowering plants. Most temperate bumblebees emerge gradually over several months after winter depending on the species and within species on the location of the overwintering chamber (hibernaculum). Weather can either delay or promote emergence and nectar resources are needed to fuel flight at low ambient temperatures to find a nest site. Several phoretic mites use queens for transportation and have synchronized life cycles with their host species. Their presence on the body of bumblebees is usually harmless but can become harmful when the number of mites increases to hundreds per individual bee. High numbers of mites on queens may also indicate the queens are in poor condition. The effect of temperature and mite load on the time for which queens can survive (d) during a 25-day period of starvation were determined using newly emerged spring queens of B. lucorum. Queens collected from various locations in SW Finland were divided into four groups taking into account their initial load of Parasitellus fucorum mites: (A) 15°C and provided with only water; (B) 24°C and provided with only water; (C) 15°C and provided with pollen and nectar; (D) 24°C and provided with pollen and nectar. There were mites on 65% (50 out of 77) of the queens. All of the fed queens survived and starved queens died, with those kept at 24°C dying approximately 8 days before those kept at 15°C. Queen weight or mite load had no effect on the length of the period for which they survived and there was no difference in the weights of the queens in the different mite load classes. Asynchrony between plants and insect as well as increased frost damage due to climate change may affect nectar availability in spring. Therefore, the survival and long term viability of bumblebee populations should be monitored during variable spring conditions.