Abstract

Recent bumble bee declines have prompted the development of novel population monitoring tools, including the use of putatively non-lethal tarsal clipping to obtain genetic material. However, the potential side effects of tarsal clipping have only been tested in the worker caste of a single domesticated species, prompting the need to more broadly test whether tarsal clipping negatively affects sampled individuals. To determine if tarsal clipping reduces queen survivorship and colony establishment, we collected wild queens of Bombus vosnesenskii and clipped tarsi from a single leg of half the individuals. We reared captive queens and estimated survivorship and nest establishment success. We also clipped tarsi of workers from a subset of colonies across a range of body sizes. We found no consistent negative effect of clipping on queen survival. In the first year, clipped nest-searching queens suffered heavy mortality, but there was no effect on foraging queens. The following year, we found no effect of clipping on queen survival or establishment. Clipping did not reduce overall worker survival but reduced survivorship for those in the smallest size quartile.

Implications for insect conservation

Our findings suggest tarsal clipping does not have consistent negative effects on individual survival. However, our results varied with queen behavioral state, year, and worker size, suggesting differences within and among species and interactions with landscape stressors warrant further study. In the interim, we recommend researchers and conservationists minimize the use of tarsal clipping for sensitive species, populations, or small workers except in cases of exceptional scientific need.

中文翻译：

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“非致命性” tar割对大黄蜂（Bombus vosnesenskii）的影响可能取决于女王阶段和工人人数

摘要

近期大黄蜂数量的下降促使人们开发了新型的种群监测工具，包括使用推定的非致命性clipping割来获取遗传物质。但是，仅在单个驯化物种的工人种姓中测试了s切割的潜在副作用，因此需要更广泛地测试切割是否会对采样个体产生负面影响。为了确定clipping割是否会减少女王的生存和殖民地建立，我们收集了Bombus vosnesenskii的野生女王并从一半人的一条腿上剪下tarsi。我们饲养了圈养女王，并估计了幸存者和巢穴建立的成功。我们还从一系列体型的一部分殖民地中截取了工人的子。我们没有发现剪裁对女王生存的持续负面影响。在第一年，修剪过的搜寻燕窝的皇后死亡率很高，但对觅食皇后没有影响。次年，我们发现剪裁对女王的生存或建立没有影响。剪裁并没有减少工人的整体生存率，但减少了四分之一最小规模工人的生存率。

对昆虫保护的意义

我们的发现表明，骨夹闭对个体存活率没有持续的负面影响。但是，我们的结果随女王的行为状态，年份和工人人数的不同而变化，这表明物种内部和物种之间的差异以及与景观压力源的相互作用值得进一步研究。在此期间，我们建议研究人员和保护主义者在敏感的物种，种群或小型工人中尽量不要使用子修剪，除非有特殊的科学需求。