Species occurrence data are foundational for research, conservation, and science communication, but the limited availability and accessibility of reliable data represents a major obstacle, particularly for insects, which face mounting pressures. We presentBeeBDC, a newRpackage, and a global bee occurrence dataset to address this issue. We combined >18.3 million bee occurrence records from multiple public repositories (GBIF, SCAN, iDigBio, USGS, ALA) and smaller datasets, then standardised, flagged, deduplicated, and cleaned the data using the reproducibleBeeBDC R-workflow. Specifically, we harmonised species names (following established global taxonomy), country names, and collection dates and, we added record-level flags for a series of potential quality issues. These data are provided in two formats, “cleaned” and “flagged-but-uncleaned”. TheBeeBDCpackage with online documentation provides end users the ability to modify filtering parameters to address their research questions. By publishing reproducibleRworkflows and globally cleaned datasets, we can increase the accessibility and reliability of downstream analyses. This workflow can be implemented for other taxa to support research and conservation.

Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith, the giant resin bee, is an adventive species in the United States. First established in the United States during the early 1990s, records currently exist from most states east of the Mississippi River along with Iowa and Kansas. New distributional records are presented for Megachile (Callomegachile) sculpturalis Smith, an introduced bee. Additional records presented here expand the known distribution southwest through Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas. An updated host plant list containing new records is also presented, expanding the number of known floral associations.

Pollinator nutrition is a highly complex subject that we are just starting to unravel, from the multidimensional nature of bee forage (pollen and nectar) to how the abiotic environment can affect the resources available to bees. Doing so is of utmost importance, as improving pollinator resource availability and nutrition is one of the proposed mechanisms to improve populations and pollinator health. However, landscape change has changed the resources naturally available for pollinators. Farmland and cropping systems create a unique nutritional landscape for pollinators, with agroecosystems typically containing few crops dominating a landscape along with natural corridors containing noncrop plants. The types of crops planted and the surrounding landscape will ultimately affect the nutritional landscape bees have access to. Even the management practices in agriculture and how pests are controlled will, directly and indirectly, affect bee health and nutrition. Hence, a better understanding of bee nutrition in agricultural ecosystems is warranted. This review synthesizes research on bee nutritional ecology and the agricultural landscapes to advance our understanding of bee health in agriculture.

The diversity and abundance of native bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) are important in providing pollination services to a diverse array of crops. An extensive literature base is available on the contributions of bees as crop pollinators. The focus of the majority of these studies are on honey bees (Apis spp.) pollinating crops that depend on cross-pollination to produce a yield. Self-pollinating crop species, including cotton, soybeans, coffee, and canola, can self-pollinate but there is increasing evidence that they can also benefit from cross-pollination by insects. These crops can see a considerable benefit when visited by bees in general, but contradictory evidence is not fully understood in some systems. For example, recent studies have shown that bee visitation to cotton blooms can increase yield up to 15%. Including nesting habitat for non-Apis bees within soybean dominated landscapes increases in-field yields. However, in these same systems, some studies show none or minimal yield increases. Additional literature (both recent and historical) of non-Apis bees in mass-flowering self-pollinating crops and their potential benefits to the crops also exists but is previously unsynthesized in cotton and soybeans in particular. In our review of literature on these select self-pollinating crops, there appears to be apparent gaps in the literature base on these and other understudied cropping systems. With the exception of graminaceous and cereal crops, all the crops discussed herein seem to have all have benefited from visitation by both Apis and non-Apis bees. Some provide known resource benefits to native bee pollinators like canola, but others like cotton and soybean are not well understood. Further, with an apparent yet small literature base in cotton and soybean there are many facets between the native bee pollinators and crop such as nutritional benefits of nectar and pollen to the bees themselves that still need to be addressed. To examine these underlying mechanisms, additional studies into the basic biology and natural history, including nesting habitats and preferences along with foraging preferences of abundant bee species will help understand how these bees seem to persist and possibly thrive in intensified agricultural systems.

Populations of tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois) (Hemiptera: Miridae), from the Lower Mississippi Delta regions of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were evaluated from 2008 through 2015 for susceptibility to pyrethroid insecticides using a diagnostic-dose assay with permethrin. Resulting data add to the compilation of pyrethroid susceptibility data carefully tracked in this pest since 1994 and provide continuing evidence of high frequencies of pyrethroid resistance in field populations of the tarnished plant bug. Resistance levels are variable, and some populations remain susceptible suggesting practical value in the continued use of the diagnostic-dose assays prior to pyrethroid treatments. Recent studies with dose–response models suggest that levels of pyrethroid resistance in some populations may still be evolving, with some populations requiring higher doses to reach levels of control comparable to those observed 10 yr ago. Concerns for frequent use of multiple classes of insecticides and possible selection for tarnished plant bugs with metabolic resistance mechanisms capable of detoxifying available insecticide chemistries warrant continued efforts to manage resistance in this important crop pest. Associations among measured pyrethroid resistance levels, published data on annual use of pyrethroid insecticides, and annual estimates of cotton insect losses and control costs were explored and summarized for the 8 yr of this investigation. Mortality of tarnished plant bugs at the diagnostic-dose of permethrin was negatively correlated with kilograms of pyrethroids applied per acre of harvested cropland.

Interpreting variable laboratory measurements of Helicoverpa zea Boddie susceptibility to toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) has been challenging due to a lack of clear evidence to document declining field control. Research that links laboratory measurements of susceptibility to survival on Bt crops is vital for accurate characterization and any subsequent response to the occurrence of an implied H. zea resistance event. In this study, H. zea survival and the resultant damage to plant fruiting structures of non-Bt, Bollgard II, and Bollgard III cottons from two insect colonies with differing levels of laboratory susceptibility to Bt toxins were evaluated in large field cages. Laboratory bioassays revealed resistance ratios of 2.04 and 622.14 between the two H. zea colonies for Dipel DF and Cry1Ac, respectively. Differences between the two H. zea colonies measured via bioassays with Bollgard II and Bollgard III cotton leaf tissue in the laboratory were not statistically discernable. However, there was 17.6% and 5.3% lower larval mortality in Bollgard II and Bollgard III for the feral relative to the laboratory colony of H. zea, respectively. Although H. zea larval numbers in cages infested with the laboratory susceptible colony did not differ between the two Bt cottons, there were fewer larvae per 25 plants in Bollgard III than in Bollgard II cotton in cages containing tolerant insects. Cages infested with tolerant H. zea moths had higher numbers of total larvae than those containing the laboratory susceptible colony in both Bollgard II and Bollgard III cottons. Bollgard II and Bollgard III cottons received 77.4% and 82.7% more total damage to total plant fruiting structures in cages infested with tolerant insects relative to those containing the laboratory susceptible colony. The damage inflicted to fruiting structures on Bollgard III cotton by a feral H. zea colony with decreased measurements of laboratory susceptibility to Dipel DF and Cry1Ac indicate that the addition of Vip3A to third generation Bt cottons may not provide sufficient control in situations where infestations levels are high.