Effects of foraging behavior on bacterial composition
Within X. sonorina (the only species in which we sampled bees
from nests and while foraging), bees caught foraging had significantly
greater richness compared to nest-caught bees
(F1,49=4.6, p=0.04) and a trend towards higher diversity
(Supplementary Figure S3; F1,26=3.1, p=0.08). Bacterial
composition differed between foraging bees and nest-caught bees
(PERMANOVA p=0.007) and between male and female bees (p=0.04) as well as
with location and tissue (p<0.001). No male bees were captured
while foraging and no significant interaction between tissue and
foraging type was observed (p=0.07). Foraging bees exhibited a lower
distance to centroid compared to nest-caught bees (betadisper behavior
p=0.016) and male bees had lower distance to centroid compared to
females (betadisper sex p=0.001). Notably, the crop of nest-inhabiting
bees was nearly entirely comprised by Apilactobacillus , while the
crop of foragers varied among individuals, with some foraging bees
containing high abundance of known nectar inhabitants includingAcinetobacter nectaris and Neokomagataea thailandica .