title: The Allometry of Bee Proboscis Length and Its Uses in Ecology.
abstract: Allometric relationships among morphological traits underlie important patterns in ecology. These relationships are often phylogenetically shared; thus quantifying allometric relationships may allow for estimating difficult-to-measure traits across species. One such trait, proboscis length in bees, is assumed to be important in structuring bee communities and plant-pollinator networks. However, it is difficult to measure and thus rarely included in ecological analyses. We measured intertegular distance (as a measure of body size) and proboscis length (glossa and prementum, both individually and combined) of 786 individual bees of 100 species across 5 of the 7 extant bee families (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila). Using linear models and model selection, we determined which parameters provided the best estimate of proboscis length. We then used coefficients to estimate the relationship between intertegular distance and proboscis length, while also considering family. Using allometric equations with an estimation for a scaling coefficient between intertegular distance and proboscis length and coefficients for each family, we explain 91% of the variance in species-level means for bee proboscis length among bee species. However, within species, individual-level intertegular distance was a poor predictor of individual proboscis length. To make our findings easy to use, we created an R package that allows estimation of proboscis length for individual bee species by inputting only family and intertegular distance. The R package also calculates foraging distance and body mass based on previously published equations. Thus by considering both taxonomy and intertegular distance we enable accurate estimation of an ecologically and evolutionarily important trait.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States of America.|Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Cariveau
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Geetha K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Departamento Ecología Integrativa, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EDB-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092, Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Ignasi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bartomeus
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zientek
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117543, Singapore.
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ascher
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winfree
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D049628:Body Size; D004463:Ecology; D054817:Pollination / Q000502:physiology*