Plant Resources for Seven Australian Solitary Bee Species Identified via DNA Metabarcoding

A two-year study identified 118 plant taxa used by seven cavity-nesting solitary bee species in Australia via DNA metabarcoding of pollen bread, larvae, frass, and nest materials. The data was authored by R. S. Wilson and published on figshare in March 2026. It shows that 20 plant taxa accounted for over 70% of resources used, with trees being the most frequently provisioned pollen source.

Use Cases

• Identify key plant species for pollinator support plantings based on the 20 taxa accounting for over 70% of bee resources.
• Analyze differences in plant material use between bee species based on descriptions of leafcutter, cellophane, and resin bees.
• Study the role of introduced versus native plants in bee diets based on relative read abundance data for seven species.
• Model resource provisioning for solitary bees based on the identification of 48 tree taxa as frequent pollen sources.

Strengths

• Identifies 118 specific plant taxa used by bees, providing a detailed resource list.
• Data covers seven bee species across 49 analyzed nests, offering multi-species comparison.
• Results differentiate between plant use in brood provisions versus nest materials.
• Includes relative abundance data, with native plants accounting for >50% of reads for six of seven species.

Limitations

• Dataset is very small (79.6 KB), indicating limited scope or summary-level data.
• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Sample sizes are uneven across bee species, ranging from 1 to 23 nests.

Provenance

Source

R. S. Wilson via figshare

Collection Method

DNA metabarcoding of pollen bread, larvae, frass, and nest materials from trap nests/bee hotels.

Time Range

Study conducted over two years (specific years not stated).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-18 12:26:06

Geography

Australia (natural and agricultural landscapes)