Dead bees trapped in milkweed flowers drive away other pollinators
Jett ID, Yang LH.
Pollinators
The milkweed you plant for monarchs depends on pollinators to set seed, and trapped dead honey bees at its flowers are quietly turning those pollinators away before they land.
Milkweed flowers have an unusual structure that can snag insects by the leg, and honey bees die there regularly. Researchers found that a single dead bee left on a flower cluster drove away nearly 40% of the pollinators that would otherwise have visited. Bees appear to recognize and avoid flowers where dead members of their species are present, which means milkweed plants with trapped bees may struggle to attract the pollination they need to reproduce.
Key Findings
Dead honey bees on milkweed flower clusters reduced total floral visitation by 37% compared to control clusters with no trapped bees
Ant densities were 51% higher near dead bees and ants independently reduced visitation by 30%, but path analysis showed the direct deterrent effect of the dead bee itself accounted for 91% of the total reduction
The deterrent effect was stronger and more consistent for honey bee visitors than for non-Apis insects, consistent with a species-specific aversion to dead conspecifics
chevron_right Technical Summary
Dead honey bees trapped in milkweed flowers cut pollinator visits to those flowers by 37%. The main driver isn't the scavenging ants that gather around the carcasses; it's a direct aversion response among living bees to the presence of dead members of their own species.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trapped honey bees reduce floral visitation on milkweed flowers.
Trapped arthropods have been shown to benefit plants in several ways, but few studies have examined the potential costs of arthropod entanglement. Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) have an unusual pollina...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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