Stephen L. Buchmann

Adjunct Scientist

5760 N. Mina Vista Dr
Tucson, AZ 85718

Specializations:

Pollination ecology, buzz pollination, melittology (native bee biology), chemical ecology, competition, comparative brood cell DNA microbiomes, biophysics of poricidal anthers in angiosperms.

Education:

B.S. Biological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton

M.S. Biological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton

Ph.D. Entomology, University of California, Davis

“Buzz Pollination in Angiosperms” Committee: R.W. Thorp, E.G. Linsley, H.G. Baker

Research:

My research has always focused on pollination ecology the often mutualistic associations of flowering plants and their pollinators, especially native bees. I continue to work in tropical (e.g. Panama, Brazil, Malaysia) and desert ecosystems (e.g. Sonoran Desert of Arizona and Mexico, Australia). I study the nesting and mating biology of local solitary bees (especially Centris, Diadasia, Xylocopa, Anthophora). Recent collaborative studies include the adult, larval and brood cell microbiomes (bacteria, fungi) of native bees with collaborators at Cornell, UCR, UCI, UW and UCD. Buzz pollination has always fascinated me. Research involves recording and sound analyses of bee intrafloral sonication buzzes and the biophysics of vibration transmissions from bee to flower, effecting the explosive release of pollen grains. I’ve also investigated the chemistry of oil-producing flowers including Krameria (Sonoran Desert) and plants in the malpighiaceae.

Filmography:

2023; “Planet Insect” Cactus bee segments, Available for viewing on Curiosity Streaming.

2021; “The Mating Game” bee segments, BBC

2013: “Wings of Life”, Louis Schwartzberg, Director, Disneynature feature film, narrated by Meryl Streep. Buchmann served as consultant and Chief Scientist for this production.

2005; “Life in the Undergrowth”, Arizona bee and wasp segments, BBC, Sir David Attenborough series and narration.

2003; “Living with Bugs: Close Encounters

2000: “Pollinators in Peril”, TBS station, Based upon The Forgotten Pollinators book, appearing with actor Peter Fonda, also narration.

1997; “The Sonoran Desert: A Violent Eden”, The Desert Speaks, KUAT television series.

Additionally; BBC, National Geographic, Oxford Scientific Films, numerous indie film makers.

Buchmann works closely with Tucson cinematographer Keith Brust (5 Emmys).

Selected Non-fiction Trade Books (ten total):

2023. Buchmann, S.L. “What a Bee Knows: Exploring the Thoughts, Memories, and Personalities of Bees”, 278 pp., Island Press, Washington, DC.

2015. Buchmann, S.L. “The Reason for Flowers: Their History, Culture, and Biology, and How They Change Our Lives” 2015, Scribner, An imprint of Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.

2012. Buchmann, S.L. and Cohn, D. The Bee Tree. An illustrated children’s book, Paul Mirocha, illustrator. Cinco Puntos Press, now Lee & Low Books, New York, NY.

2011. Buchmann, S.L. “Honey Bees: Letters from the Hive”, Bantam.

2006. Buchmann, S.L. and Banning Repplier “Letters from the Hive: An Intimate History of Bees, Honey and Humankind. Bantam.

2003. Sheppard, M., Buchmann, S.L. and M. Vaughan. Pollinator Conservation Handbook: A Guide to Understanding, Protecting, and Providing Habitat for Native Pollinator Insects. Xerces Society, Portland, Oregon.

1996. Buchmann, S.L. and G. P. Nabhan. “The Forgotten Pollinators”, 292 pp., Island Press, Washington, DC.

Selected Publications (> 225) total):

Buchmann, S.L. and M. Jankauski. 2024. Buzz pollination: Bee bites and floral vibrations. Current Biology Dispatches. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.010

Buchmann, S.L. and D. Papaj. 2024. Hung out to dry: diminished flowers offer less to pollinators and us. New Phytologist Commentary. 244:746-748.

Christensen, S. Srinivas, Q. McFrederick, B. Danforth, S. Buchmann and R. Vannette. 2024. Symbiotic bacteria and fungi proliferate in diapause and may enhance overwintering survival in a solitary bee. The ISME Journal, 18(1), wrae089

Russell, A., S. Buchmann, J. Ascher, Z. Wang, R. Kreisel, D. Jolles, M. Orr and A. Hughes,. 2024. Global patterns and drivers of buzzing bees and poricidal plants. Current Biology

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.065

Cruz, T., S. Buchmann and K. Predicting. 2024. Buzzing towards Resilience: Investigating the Spatial Alignment of the Desert Pallid Bee, Centris pallida, and Its Host Plants in Response to Climate Change. Insects 15(10), 793.

Hammer, T.J., J. Kueneman, M. Argueta-Guzman, Q. McFrederick, L. Grant, W. Wcislo, S. Buchmann and B. Danforth. 2023. Bee breweries: The unusually fermentative, lactobacili-dominated brood cell microbiomes of cellophane bees. Frontiers in Microbiology. 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1114849

Steffan, S., P. Dharampal, J. Kuneman, A. Keller, M. Argueta-Guzman, Q. McFrederick, S. Buchmann, R. Danette, A. Edlund, C. Mezera, N. Amon and B. Danforth. 2023. Microbes, the “silent third partners” of bee-angiosperm mutualists, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 3211.

Ostwald, M., J. Alba-Tercedor, R. Minckley and S. Buchmann. 2022. Three-dimensional morphology of the hypertrophied sex pheromone gland in a lek-mating carpenter bee (Xylocopa sonorina) revealed by micro computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy. Apidologie. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-022-00967-w

Barrett, S. Schneider, P. Sachdeva, A. Gomez and S. Buhmann. 2021. Neuroanatomical differentiation associated with alternative reproductive tactics in male arid land bees, Centris pallida and Amegilla dawsoni. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-021-01492-4

Sabino, W.O., I. Alves-dos-Santos, E. P. Queiroz, L. B. de Faria, D.R. Papaj, S.L.Buchmann and C. Ines de Silva. 2020. Nesting biology of Centris (Paracentris) burgdorfi (Apidae: Centridini). Journal of Apicultural Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2020.1717760

Buchmann, S.L. and R. L. Minckley. 2019. Large Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa). In: Encyclopedia of Social Insects, C. Starr (ed.), Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90306-4_70-1

DeLuca, P.A., S. Buchmann, Candace Galen, A.C. Mason and Mario Vallejo-Marin. 2019. Does body size predict the buzz-pollination frequencies used by bees? Ecology and Evolution. 2019; 1-13. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5092

Cardinal, S., S.L. Buchmann and A. L. Russell. 2018. The evolution of floral sonication, a pollen foraging behavior used by bees (Anthophila). Evolution 72-3: 590-600.

DeLuca, P.A., N. Giebink, A.C. Mason, D. Papaj and S.L. Buchmann. 2018. How well do acoustic recordings characterize properties of bee (Anthophila) floral sonication vibrations?

Bioacoustics, DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2018.1511474

Russell, A.L., S.L. Buchmann, W. de O. Sabino and D. Papaj. 2018. Brawls Bring Buzz: Male Size Influences Competition and Courtship in Diadasia rinconis (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Journal of Insect Scienece, 18(4):18; 1-11.

Papaj, D., S.L. Buchmann and A. L. Russell. 2017. Division of labor of anthers in heterantherous plants: flexibility of bee pollen collection behavior may serve to keep plants honest. Arthropod-Plant Interactions, DOI 10.1007/s11829-017-9497-5.

Russell, A.L., S.L. Buchmann and D. R. Papaj. 2017. How a generalist bee achieves high efficiency of pollen collection on diverse floral resources. Behavioral Ecology (in press).

Cardinale, S., S. L. Buchmann and A.L. Russell. 2017. The evolution of floral soinication, a pollen foraging behavior used by bees. Evolution (submitted).

Gronenberg, W., A. Raikhelkar, E. Absdhire, J. Stevens, E. Epstein, K. Loyola, M. Rauscher and S. Buchmann. 2014. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) learn to discriminate the smell of organic compounds from their respective deuterated isotopomers. Proc. R. Soc. B2014 281, 201330989.

Hobbies:

Creative writing, macro and landscape photography, 3D scanning and printing, fine art bronze casting, cooking, cross country skiing.