Carpenter Bees ( <i>Xylocopa</i> ) Harbor a Distinctive Gut Microbiome Related to That of Honey Bees and Bumble Bees

Abstract

species have distinctive and consistent compositions and are dominated by bacterial lineages previously known from honey bees and bumble bees. Thus, eusociality is not required for bees to maintain a specialized, host-restricted gut microbiome. These findings suggest that gut bacteria are transmitted at shared nesting sites and that they play a role in host ecology.