Body mass and sex, not local climate, drive differences in chill coma recovery times in common garden reared bumble  bees

AbstractThe time required to recover from cold exposure (chill coma recovery time) may represent an important metric of performance and has been linked to geographic distributions of diverse species. Chill coma recovery time (CCRT) has rarely been measured in bumble  bees (genusBombus) but may provide insights regarding recent changes in their distributions. We measured CCRT ofBombus vosnesenskii workers reared in common garden laboratory conditions from queens collected across altitude and latitude in the Western United States. We also compared CCRTs of male and female bumble  bees because males are often overlooked in studies of bumble bee ecology and physiology and may differ in their ability to respond to cold temperatures. We found no relationship between CCRT and local climate at the queen collection sites, but CCRT varied significantly with sex and body mass. Bec ause differences in the ability to recover from cold temperatures have been shown in wild-caughtBombus, we predict that variability in CCRT may be strongly influenced by plasticity.
Source: Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology - Category: Physiology Source Type: research