Ecology, Evolution & Behavior 2019
40 x 64 x 3 in (h x w x d)

Third Place, 2019

Wild-caught bumblebees have a core set of bacteria within their digestive tract that is passed between adult bees and helps protect against insecticides and pathogens. Postdoctoral researcher Tobin Hammer lab-reared common eastern bumblebees in a “germ-free” environment, making their guts void of bacteria. Lexie Martin performed a technique known as fluorescence in situ hybridization on one of these “germ-free” bumblebees in order to assess the contents of its gut. Within the image, one can see a cross-section of the bumblebee’s digestive tract filled with spiked freshly-eaten pollen granules and smooth discs of partially digested pollen granules. Additionally, the blue dots along the gut wall are nuclei of the gut cells.

Credit:
Lexie Martin
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Undergraduate Student

Exhibited by:

Texas Science

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