Andrena semirugosa brassicae (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) as a major small bee species in apple orchards in Japan

Abstract

Wild small bees are known to visit apple flowers along with honeybees and other bees. However, their species composition in Japan has not been well investigated for more than 50 years. Here, we identified 791 wild small bee individuals captured in seven apple orchards in four prefectures. Andrena semirugosa brassicae (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) was the predominant species visiting apple flowers in five orchards, although it had not been listed as a major visitor in past studies. This species was also the major visitor to dandelion flowers in the orchards. We deposited the sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (CO1) of 250 individuals (7 genera; 32 species) in DDBJ to support the genetic identification of small bees widely observed in apple orchards in Japan.