Authors
Natalie Boyle, Lindsie M McCabe
Published in
Current opinion in insect science. Pages 101616. Sep 10, 2026. Epub Sep 10, 2026.
Abstract
The native mason bee, Osmia lignaria, is widely recognized for its high pollination efficiency in early-season orchard crops, yet its expansion as a managed pollinator remains constrained by biological, operational, and environmental limitations. Although its per-visit efficacy often exceeds that of Apis mellifera, managed populations frequently show inconsistent reproductive replacement and continued reliance on wild-collected stocks. We argue that these limitations arise from three interacting constraints on scalability: (i) limited availability of regionally adapted stocks and associated biosecurity risks, (ii) intra- and intergenerational reproductive bottlenecks inherent to solitary bee life histories, and (iii) mismatches between deployment strategies and landscape stewardship contexts. By reframing these challenges as intervention points, we outline a pathway toward more resilient, regionally grounded O. lignaria management systems that complement existing pollination services while minimizing ecological risk. We identify emerging research priorities in climate-responsive emergence modeling, pathogen network dynamics, and propagation technology required to support sustainable expansion.
PMID:
42722130
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Sep 2026.
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