Our postdoc @dr-ewilliamson.bsky.social's recent PhD study on an Australian native solitary bee, Megachile tosticauda, challenged a longheld assumption in insect biology: that all bees rely on a functional gut #microbiome. So what happens if it's missing? #bugsky invertebratelab.com/2026/02/24/a...

Transient, environmentally acquired microbes can benefit insect hosts - but not always. In solitary bee Megachile tosticauda, bacteria detected by sequencing are not metabolically active gut symbionts and are not required for development. Presence≠function. doi.org/10.1093/fems... @femsmicro.org