Bee (Hymenoptera) bycatch assemblages collected in bowl traps at interfaces of cotton agroecosystems in Alabama

The cotton aphid Aphis gossypii Glover is a pest of cotton Gossypium hirsutum L. in the southeastern United States, capable of direct feeding damage and as a vector of plant viruses. Dispersal activity in agroecosystems can be monitored passively with the use of colored pan traps. The unintended bycatch of Hymenoptera was noted in these traps during an approximately 1-mo span during the peak blooming period in 2021 and 2022. While native pollinators have been receiving recent attention due to their benefits to crops, native bees in Alabama have not yet been investigated on cotton. Adjacent states such as Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas have recorded the benefits of Hymenoptera species to cotton pollination, showing increased lint and seed yield and projecting potential gains to profits for growers. We identified the Hymenopteran species captured as bycatch in yellow pan traps, recording 66 species/species complexes in 4 families. Twenty-two of these species were recorded as cotton pollinators in other states, and 4 species were new or possibly new species records for the state. Our results show that bycatch can be a feasible method to document native bee pollinators and support future research into the idea that cotton may have the potential to provide resources to native bees in agroecosystems.