Nectar preferences in male bumblebees

• Published in: Insectes Sociaux
• Main Authors: Brown, M., Brown, M. J. F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2020
• Subjects: Insect Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00040-020-00751-y; http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00040-020-00751-y.pdf; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00040-020-00751-y/fulltext.html

Abstract Social insect males are relatively understudied, but knowledge of their biology is increasingly important for conservation of declining groups. Bumblebees are important pollinators in temperate, sub-arctic, and Alpine regions, but many species are in decline across the globe. Agri-environment schemes have been designed to support female bumblebees, but free-living males may also need support. Male bumblebees have an energetically expensive lifestyle, and so understanding their foraging choices may provide a first step towards designing interventions to support them in the wild. Using a series of controlled laboratory choice experiments, we demonstrate that males prefer sugar concentrations of between 50 and 60% when under either simple (binary) or complex (octanary) choice conditions when presented with a broad range of sugar concentrations. When presented with concentrations within this preferred range, males exhibit a clear preference for sugar solutions of 56% w/w sucrose when solutions differ by 4%. These results suggest that males maximise their rate of energy intake, as predicted by theoretical models, rather than minimise their water consumption. In the future, male preferences for high sugar concentrations can be combined with knowledge of baseline nectar concentrations and flower phenology to maximise the value of conservation interventions for this neglected sex.