What's in the gut? Determining the gut microbiome composition of pollinators living in the Northern Plains

The Northern Plains of the United States contain diverse populations of pollinators. Due to farming and favorable environmental conditions, pollinators live abundantly throughout the Northern Plains. Members of Syrphidae are important pollinators within this region and resemble bees and wasps. While extensive research has been conducted on bees, specifically Apis mellifera, research surrounding other pollinators, such as dipterans, has been neglected. With dipterans possessing effective pollinating capabilities, understanding their gut bacterial communities (GBC) is essential in protecting the health of pollinator communities. For this study, hoverflies were collected and their guts were dissected for DNA extraction. Bacterial symbionts were identified through Illumina sequencing. Pinpointing species of bacteria in the hoverfly gut will aid in further determining a baseline bacterial community within hoverflies while serving as a comparison to other pollinator GBCs. Moreover, understanding model gut bacterial communities is essential to monitor the health of hoverfly populations.