Data from: Morphological and ecological traits explain variation in desiccation tolerance among bees

Gonzalez Betancourt, Victor Hugo 1 ; Dreusicke, Anna2; Johnson, Meredith3; Tscheulin, Thomas4; Petanidou, Theodora4; Hranitz, John5; Barthell, John5

Research facility: University of the Aegean

Published Sep 09, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.t1g1jwth9

Data files

Sep 09, 2026 version files 44.47 KB

Abstract

We assessed the desiccation tolerance of 22 bee species (13 genera of five families) from the Greek island of Lesbos, covering a range of body sizes, hairiness, nesting habitats, and social structures. We measured three desiccation tolerance metrics: survival time under simulated acute desiccation stress, water loss rate (WLR), and water content at mortality (critical water content, CWC). In addition, we evaluated the phylogenetic signal of these three desiccation-related traits and examined the influence of morphology (body mass and hair length), nesting (nest guild and nest location), and sociality on each. Survival, WLR, and CWC varied widely among species. Larger-bodied species exhibited lower WLR and survived longer under desiccation stress. Survival decreased with increasing WLR and CWC. Hair length was positively associated with CWC but did not affect survival or WLR. Ecological traits did not predict survival, but nesting guild influenced both WLR and CWC, and sociality influenced CWC. Eusocial species nesting in large cavities exhibited higher WLR and CWC, whereas solitary species generally showed lower CWC. Phylogenetic signal was moderate (WLR) to strong (survival and CWC) but was not statistically significant. Our results reveal significant interspecific variation in bee desiccation tolerance and demonstrate that morphological and ecological traits shape physiological responses to water stress. These results highlight trait-based mechanisms underlying desiccation tolerance and suggest that functional trait variation may influence pollinator vulnerability to increasing drought and climatic variability.

Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.t1g1jwth9

Data are used in analyses for the following publication:

"Morphological and ecological traits explain variation in desiccation tolerance among bees"

Filename: “BeesDesiccation_FE.csv”

Descriptions for each column in the dataset:

Date - collection date (day/month/year)
Bee_ID - vial number identifier
Species - Bee species
Sex - Female (F) or male (M)
HairLen - Hair length in millimeters
L10HairLen - Logarithm base 10 of HairLen
FreshMass - Body mass at start of experiment (grams)
L10FreshMass - Logarithm base 10 of FreshMass
MassDeath - Body mass at death (grams)
Survival - Time from start of experiment until death (hours)
L10Survival - Logarithm base 10 of Survival
WLR - water loss rate, percent initial body mass lost by water per hour in tube (%)
L10WLR - Logarithm base 10 of WLR
DryMass - Body mass after dried in oven for 72 hours at 70 degrees Celsius (grams)
CWC - critical water content, percent of bee mass comprised of water at death (%)
ArcCWC - Arcsine transformed CWC
Nesting - Nesting guild (ground nesting, pre-existing cavities or constructed holes, and large comb-building cavity nesters)
NestLocation - Location of nests (below, above ground or both)
Sociality - Social organization (solitary, socially polymorphic, eusocial)

Filename: “HoneybeeDesiccation_FE.csv”