Animal-mediated pollination is essential for the production and quality of fruits and seeds of many crops consumed by humans. However, crop pollination services might be compromised when wild pollinators are scarce. Managed pollinators are commonly used in crops to supplement such services with the assumption that they will enhance crop yield. However, information on the spatiotemporal pollinator-dependence of crops is still limited. The contribution of commercial bumble bee colonies compared...

A new study provides multiple lines of evidence on the total dependence of the solitary bee Flavipanurgus venustus on the flowers of a common Mediterranean scrub (Cistus crispus). This association was consistent across space and time despite the presence of other Cistus species whose flowers are morphologically similar. This finding is remarkable since bee specialization on a single flower species (monolecty) has been a questioned fact.