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Supercooling points of freeze-avoiding bumble bees vary with caste and queen life stage

Authors :
Ellen C. Keaveny
Sarah A. Waybright
Travis W. Rusch
Michael E. Dillon
Source :
Journal of Thermal Biology. 104:103196
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Elsevier BV, 2022.

Abstract

Bumble bees thrive in cold climates including high latitude and high altitude regions around the world, yet cold tolerance strategies are largely unknown for most species. To determine bumble bee cold tolerance strategy, we exposed bumble bees to a range of low temperatures and measured survival 72 h post-exposure. All bees that froze died within 72 h while only one bee died without freezing, suggesting that bumble bees are generally freeze-avoiding insects and may be slightly chill susceptible. We then assessed whether temperatures that cause internal ice formation (supercooling points, SCP) varied among bumble bee castes (drones, workers, and queens), or across queen life stages, collection elevation, species, or season. Males froze at significantly lower temperatures than workers or queens. Queens in pre-overwintering or overwintering states froze at significantly lower temperatures than queens stimulated to initiate ovary development by CO

Details

ISSN :
03064565
Volume :
104
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Journal of Thermal Biology
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....007f74e4bac0dfcddc6b38e204091089
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103196