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ViewAttendees 18

P-IE

Student Competition 10-Minute Paper

Grad 10-min: P-IE, Pollinators 1

Eristalis (Diptera: Syrphidae) flower flies are potential non-host vectors of the common trypanosome bee parasite, Crithidia bombi

On-Demand
Student Competition On-Demand
Parasites can negatively impact bee health, but oftentimes little is known about their host range and routes of transmission. Flowers have been implicated as transmission platforms for parasites found historically in social bees, yet social bees share floral resources with other understudied pollinator taxa that may also be hosts or non-host vectors of "bee" parasites. Here, we assessed whether the common trypanosome gut parasite of bumble bees, Crithidia bombi, can infect Eristalis tenax (Diptera: Syrphidae) flower flies. We also investigated the potential for two, confirmed solitary megachilid bee hosts of C. bombi, Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata, as well as two syrphid fly species, Eristalis arbustorum and E. tenax, to transmit the parasite at flowers. We found that C. bombi did not replicate (i.e., cause an active infection) in E. tenax flies. However, 93% of inoculated flies defecated live parasites in their first fecal event. Moreover, Eristalis flies defecated frequently and at volumes comparable to, or larger than, both bee species. Of the pollinators tested, all preferred to defecate inside the corolla (flower) compared to five other locations on a shared floral resource. Our results demonstrate that Eristalis flower flies have the potential to vector a fecal-orally transmitted bee parasite, and that transmission between bees and flies can potentially occur at flowers.