Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T08:52:18.384Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

OCCURRENCE OF CHALKBROOD CAUSED BY ASCOSPHAERA AGGREGATA SKOU IN A NATIVE LEAFCUTTING BEE, MEGACHILE PUGNATA SAY (HYMENOPTERA: MEGACHILIDAE), IN SASKATCHEWAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

D.W. Goerzen ,
L. Dumouchel  and
J. Bissett
D.W. Goerzen
Affiliation:
Saskatchewan Alfalfa Seed Producers Association, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 0X2
L. Dumouchel
Affiliation:
Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research, Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C6
J. Bissett
Affiliation:
Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research, Agriculture Canada, Research Branch, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C6
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata (Fab.), is a domesticated pollinator important for alfalfa seed production in western Canada. Populations of M. rotundata are highly susceptible to chalkbrood, a disease caused by the fungus Ascosphaera aggregata Skou. The disease has caused high mortalities in M. rotundata populations in the northwestern United States since 1972. It was found in Manitoba in 1982, Alberta in 1983, and Saskatchewan in 1984 (Richards 1985). In subsequent surveys, A. aggregata has been detected only sporadically and at low levels of infection in Saskatchewan M. rotundata populations (Goerzen 1991). A previously reported observation of A. aggregata in the native leafcutting bee M. relativa Cresson (Goerzen et al. 1990) indicated that the disease is present in native leafcutting bee species which commonly immigrate into alfalfa leafcutting bee nest material.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 124 , Issue 3 , June 1992 , pp. 557 - 558
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bissett, J. 1988. Contribution toward a monograph of the genus Ascosphaera. Canadian Journal of Botany 66: 2541–2560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goerzen, D.W. 1991. Microflora associated with the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata (Fab.) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Saskatchewan, Canada. Apidologie 22: 553–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goerzen, D.W., Erlandson, M.A., and Bissett, J.. 1990. Occurrence of chalkbrood caused by Ascosphaera aggregata Skou in a native leafcutting bee, Megachile relativa Cresson (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) in Saskatchewan. The Canadian Entomologist 122: 1269–1270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermosa de Mendoza, M., de Mendoza, J. Hermosa, Puerta, F., Asensio, E., Bustos, M., Padilla, F., and Pellin, P.. 1989. Ascosphaeriosis of the parasitic bee, Coelioxys rufocaudata, by Ascosphaera aggregata. Journal of Apicultural Research 28: 61–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medler, J.T. 1964. A note on Megachile (Sayapis) pugnata Say in trap-nests in Wisconsin (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). The Canadian Entomologist 96: 918–921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, T.B. 1962. Bees of the eastern United States, volume II. North Carolina Agriculture Experimental Station Technical Bulletin 152: 557 pp.Google Scholar
Peck, O., and Bolton, J.L.. 1946. Alfalfa seed production in northern Saskatchewan as affected by bees, with a report on means of increasing the populations of native bees. Scientific Agriculture 26: 388–418.Google Scholar
Rank, G.H., and Goerzen, D.W.. 1981. Native leafcutter bee species and associated parasites in commercial hives in Saskatchewan, Canada. Apidologie 12: 211–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, K.W. 1985. Detection of a chalkbrood fungus, Ascosphaera aggregata, in larvae of the alfalfa leaf-cutter bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). The Canadian Entomologist 117: 1143–1145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, J.B., and Christensen, M.. 1984. Ascosphaera species inciting chalkbrood in North America and a taxonomic key. Mycotaxon 19: 41–55.Google Scholar
Skou, J.P. 1975. Two new species of Ascosphaera and notes on the conidial state of Bettsia alvei. Friesia 11: 62–74.Google Scholar