Meeting Abstract
Bee pollinators are an indispensable aspect of the environment, by providing pollination services to the plant communities that shape our ecosystems. As the environment undergoes changes, including climate change, having a better understanding of the endogenous circadian rhythms in pollinator species could allow us to sustain pollination of plant species in both agricultural and natural systems. Like other animal species, pollinator species have their own circadian rhythm in which they have a peak or trough of foraging activities throughout the day. These peaks or troughs can be influenced by environmental cues. We hypothesized that if circadian rhythms play a major role in the timing of foraging behavior in Xylocopa species, then their activity patterns in the lab (in the absence of environmental timing cues) would resemble their patterns in the field. To test the hypothesis, we compared Xylocopa violacea, Xylocopa olivieri, and Xylocopa iris forging patterns in the field to their activity in the lab under constant environmental condition. We found that X. olivieri and X. iris activities in the lab closely resembled their foraging patterns in the field. X. violacea activity in the lab was longer in duration than in the field. All three species were more active during the middle of the day in the lab than they were in the field. The resemblance between foraging behavior in the field and the intrinsic activity pattern in the lab under constant conditions indicates that circadian rhythm plays a major role in the timing of foraging behavior among these species.
