Date of Award
5-2026
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science - Biology
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Daniel J. Bennett, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Matthew Kwiatkowski, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Alexandra Martynova-Van Kley, Ph.D.
Fourth Advisor
Reuber Antoniazzi, Ph.D.
Abstract
The American bumble bee, Bombus pensylvanicus, is an important pollinator species that was once widespread in much of North America but has experienced population declines in recent decades in some regions. As a species of conservation concern, it is important to understand how body size varies in response to environmental conditions and to identify the key floral resources that support this species. I examined body size variation in East Texas and floral resource use of B. pensylvanicus across Texas. In the first chapter, body size variation among queens, workers, and males was quantified using thorax width and size variation was assessed across geographic gradients of latitude and longitude. Queens were found to be significantly larger than workers and males, workers were found to be slightly larger than males and workers had the greatest size variation. Longitude had a negative significant effect on thorax width, with larger individuals on average in western portions of the study region, whereas body size was not found to vary with latitude. In the second chapter, floral visitation records from citizen science databases and previous literature records were compiled to identify plant taxa frequently visited by B. pensylvanicus in Texas. The species was found to exhibit a generalist foraging strategy but frequently visited several plants within a few key families, particularly Asteraceae and Lamiaceae. These findings highlight how spatial environmental variation influence body size and floral resource use varies among plant taxa.
Repository Citation
Nahar, Sabekun, "BODY SIZE VARIATION AND FLORAL ASSOCIATIONS OF THE AMERICAN BUMBLE BEE, BOMBUS PENSYLVANICUS, IN EAST TEXAS" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 693.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/693
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
