The historically high heat waves that gripped the southwest United States and southern Europe this summer are causing problems for more than just humans. Extreme heat waves affect pollinators and the pathogens that live on them, creating a mutual imbalance that could have major economic and public health consequences.
A global research team led by Penn State was the first to study how extreme heat waves affect the host-pathogen relationship between two species of solitary bees (Osmia cornifrons and Osmia lignaria) and a protozoan pathogen (Crithidia mellificae). The researchers recently published their findings in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
The researchers found that the one-two punch of extreme heat exposure and prior infection led solitary bees, which account for over 90% of the roughly 4,000 species of bees in North America, to be less likely to forage for food. If bees don’t forage, they don’t eat, and importantly for humans, they don’t pollinate crops that are vital to the global economy and food security.
Read more at: Penn State
A blue orchard bee (Osmia lignaria) is one of two species of solitary bees studied by a team of researchers led by Penn State. It was the first study to examine how extreme heat waves affect the host-pathogen relationship between solitary bees and a protozoan pathogen (Crithidia mellificae). (Photo Credit: Robert Webster. All Rights Reserved)