CITATION — REFERENCE ENTRY
The Extraordinary Alkali Bee, Nomia melanderi (Halictidae), the World's Only Intensively Managed Ground-Nesting Bee — Annual Review of Entomology
- Key
- cane-2024-alkali-bee
- Authors
- Cane, James H.
- Issued
- 2024-1-25
- Type
- article-journal
- Container
- Annual Review of Entomology
- Volume
- 69
- Pages
- 99-116
Raw CSL JSON
{
"DOI": "10.1146/annurev-ento-020623-013716",
"URL": "https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-ento-020623-013716",
"page": "99-116",
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "The Extraordinary Alkali Bee, Nomia melanderi (Halictidae), the World's Only Intensively Managed Ground-Nesting Bee",
"author": [
{
"given": "James H.",
"family": "Cane"
}
],
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2024,
1,
25
]
]
},
"volume": "69",
"container-title": "Annual Review of Entomology"
}
Claims
-
The alkali bee nests in arid western US basins during hot, dry midsummer but requires damp nesting soil; building effective artificial beds requires understanding the hydraulic conductivity of silty soils and its interplay with specific soil mineral salts.
"It nests during the torrid, parched midsummer amid arid valleys and basins of the western United States, yet it wants damp nesting soil."
-
Unlike most ground-nesting bees, alkali bees are not plagued by kleptoparasitic bees, though they host other well-studied parasitoids; some isolated populations survive cold climates by nesting amid hot springs; the alkali bee is the second most valuable managed solitary bee for US agriculture and perhaps the world.
"Kleptoparasitic bees plague most ground nesters, but not alkali bees, which do, however, host other well-studied parasitoids."
-
Among ground-nesting bees, only the alkali bee has been successfully managed as a crop pollinator, and in under 80 years it has become the most intensely studied ground-nesting solitary bee.
"Among the ground-nesting bees are several proven crop pollinators, but only the alkali bee ( Nomia melanderi) has been successfully managed."
-
Alkali bees are polylectic and forage over long distances, so they can stray into neighboring crops contaminated with insecticides; their primary wild floral hosts are either non-native or poorly known.
"Elsewhere, its polylectic habits and long foraging range allow it to stray into neighboring crops contaminated with insecticides. Primary wild floral hosts are either non-native or poorly known."
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