Preliminary evidence has suggested that female alfalfa leafcutting bees nesting in artifical nests adjacent to an alfalfa field often include non-alfalfa pollen in their nest provisions. Following up on this, we collected pollen from provisioning females and from their nest cells. We then identified the pollen by comparison to a reference collection of pollen from local flowers. The frequency distribution of pollen used by females was also compared to the frequency distribution of flowers in the habitat (determined from transects). We discuss the implication of the results for leafcutting bee management in seed alfalfa.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Megachilidae Megachile rotundata (alfalfa leafcutting bee)
Keywords: alfalfa, pollination
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