Bombus californicus

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Bombus californicus
California Bumble Bee imported from iNaturalist photo 152824179 on 18 November 2023.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Tribe: Bombini
Genus: Bombus
Subgenus: Thoracobombus
Species:
B. californicus
Binomial name
Bombus californicus
Smith, 1854
Synonyms
  • Bombus dubiusCresson, 1863
  • Bombus consanguineusHandlirsch, 1888
  • Bombus neglectulusAshmead, 1902

Bombus californicus, the California bumble bee, is a species of bumble bee in the family Apidae. Bombus californicus is in the subgenus Thoracobombus. [1] It is found in Central America and the western half of North America. [2] [3] [4] Bombus californicus is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. [5]

Contents

In a 2015 study, Bombus californicus was found to be endangered in 62% of surveyed areas. [6]

Bombus californicus can exhibit multiple possible color patterns of yellow and black, as in its sister species Bombus fervidus , and in many areas of geographic overlap, at least a small percentage of individuals of the two species cannot be recognized except by genetic analysis, as each species can sometimes display the color pattern typical of the other. [1] The "typical" color pattern of female californicus is black with only a single strong yellow band anteriorly on the thorax, and another single yellow band near the apex of the abdomen; males exhibit considerably more variation. [1]

Bombus californicus nests in the ground, [7] in wooded areas, [1] and in urban areas. [8] Queens emerge from April through the middle of July. [9] Workers are present from April to September. [9] Males (drones) are present late May through September. [9] This type of bumblebee pollinates sage, [10] blueberry bushes, red clover, [7] California poppies, [4] and many other species of flowers. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bumblebee</span> Genus of insect

A bumblebee is any of over 250 species in the genus Bombus, part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera are known from fossils. They are found primarily in higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America, where a few lowland tropical species have been identified. European bumblebees have also been introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals.

<i>Bombus terrestris</i> Species of bee

Bombus terrestris, the buff-tailed bumblebee or large earth bumblebee, is one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe. It is one of the main species used in greenhouse pollination, and so can be found in many countries and areas where it is not native, such as Tasmania. Moreover, it is a eusocial insect with an overlap of generations, a division of labour, and cooperative brood care. The queen is monogamous which means she mates with only one male. B. terrestris workers learn flower colours and forage efficiently.

<i>Bombus lapidarius</i> Species of bee

Bombus lapidarius is a species of bumblebee in the subgenus Melanobombus. Commonly known as the red-tailed bumblebee, B. lapidarius can be found throughout much of Central Europe. Known for its distinctive black and red body, this social bee is important in pollination.

<i>Bombus citrinus</i> Species of bee

Bombus citrinus is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the lemon cuckoo bumblebee due to its lemon-yellow color. It is native to eastern North America.

<i>Bombus variabilis</i> Species of bee

Bombus variabilis is a critically endangered species of cuckoo bumblebee that occurs in North America. It has not been observed in the United States in at least 20 years and is potentially extirpated or extinct.

<i>Bombus pensylvanicus</i> Species of bee

Bombus pensylvanicus, the American bumblebee, is a threatened species of bumblebee native to North America. It occurs in eastern Canada, throughout much of the Eastern United States, and much of Mexico.

Two-spotted bumble bee Species of bee

The two-spotted bumble bee is a species of social bumble bee found in the eastern half of the United States and the adjacent south-eastern part of Canada. In older literature this bee is often referred to as Bremus bimaculatus, Bremus being a synonym for Bombus. The bee's common name comes from the two yellow spots on its abdomen. Unlike many of the other species of bee in the genus Bombus,B. bimaculatus is not on the decline, but instead is very stable. They are abundant pollinators that forage at a variety of plants.

<i>Bombus vosnesenskii</i> Species of bee

Bombus vosnesenskii, the yellow-faced bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to the west coast of North America, where it is distributed from British Columbia to Baja California. It is the most abundant species of bee in this range, and can be found in both urban and agricultural areas. Additionally, B. vosnesenskii is utilized as an important pollinator in commercial agriculture, especially for greenhouse tomatoes. Though the species is not currently experiencing population decline, urbanization has affected its nesting densities, and early emergence of the B. vosnesenskii has been implicated in the increasing lack of bee diversity on the West coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyrobombus</span> Subgenus of insects

Pyrobombus is a subgenus of bumblebees, with its centres of diversity in Central Asia and north-western North America. Nearly a fifth of all Bombus species fall within Pyrobombus and its member species vary considerably in size, appearance and behaviour. it covers 43 species of bees and is the largest subgenus of bumblebees, covering almost 50% of the North American fauna. They are seen to be declined by 6%, which may be an undervalued statistic, although not as high as other groups of bees. Pyrobombus bees also face issues such as climate change, loss of habitat, urbanization, and industrial agriculture. This subgenus of bees can pollinate which helps plants fertilise and grow fruit that is essential to the biodiversity and life of the environment. Commonly, Pyrobombus bees are used for beekeeping as they are pollinators. They can be for wax, honey, venom, combs, and such which may be collected for commercial use. This subgenus may vary in their characteristics such as body size, wingspan, and tongue length for individual species, but like all bees, they possess wings, a head, thorax, and abdomen.

<i>Bombus fervidus</i> Species of bee

Bombus fervidus, the golden northern bumble bee or yellow bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee native to North America. It has a yellow-colored abdomen and thorax. Its range includes the North American continent, excluding much of the southern United States, Alaska, and the northern parts of Canada. It is common in cities and farmland, with populations concentrated in the Northeastern part of the United States. It is similar in color and range to its sibling species, Bombus californicus, though sometimes also confused with the American bumblebee or black and gold bumblebee. It has complex behavioral traits, which includes a coordinated nest defense to ward off predators. B. fervidus is an important pollinator, so recent population decline is a particular concern.

<i>Bombus ruderatus</i> Species of bee

Bombus ruderatus, the large garden bumblebee or ruderal bumblebee, is a species of long-tongued bumblebee found in Europe and in some parts of northern Africa. This species is the largest bumblebee in Britain and it uses its long face and tongue to pollinate hard-to-reach tubed flowers. Bumblebees are key pollinators in many agricultural ecosystems, which has led to B. ruderatus and other bumblebees being commercially bred and introduced into non-native countries, specifically New Zealand and Chile. Since its introduction in Chile, B. ruderatus has spread into Argentina as well. Population numbers have been declining and it has been placed on the Biodiversity Action Plan to help counteract these declines.

Apicystis bombi is a species of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa. It infects bees, especially bumblebees. It is believed to have a cosmopolitan distribution in bumblebees and a sporadic occurrence in honey bees, and causes disease symptoms in nonresistant bee species.

<i>Bombus bifarius</i> Species of bee

Bombus bifarius, the two-form bumblebee, is a species of eusocial bumblebee of the subgenus Pyrobombus. B. bifarius inhabits mountainous regions of western North America, primarily the states of Colorado and Utah. Its common name refers to a historical artifact, in that it was believed that this species had a color polymorphism, with a red-tailed nominate form and a black-tailed nearcticus form, present in the species. This polymorphism has recently been shown to belong instead to a cryptic sister species, Bombus vancouverensis, that occupies almost the entirety of the range of what was formerly classified as bifarius; true bifarius only has a red form, so it is not "two-formed" at all.

<i>Bombus crotchii</i> North American bee species

Bombus crotchii, commonly called Crotch's bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee named after the entomologist George Robert Crotch. It is classified as endangered due to the impacts of pesticides, climate change, and human development.

<i>Bombus ephippiatus</i> Species of bee

Bombus ephippiatus is a species of bumblebee native to Mexico and Central America.

<i>Bombus huntii</i> Species of bee

Bombus huntii is a species of bumblebee. It is native to western North America, where it occurs in western Canada and the United States as far east as Manitoba and Minnesota, and in Mexico as far south as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It is known commonly as the Hunt bumblebee or Hunt's bumblebee.

<i>Bombus sonorus</i> Species of bee

Bombus sonorus, commonly known as the Sonoran bumble bee, is a species of bumble bee in the family Apidae. It is found in Central America and western and southwestern North America. Considered uncommon, it is sometimes categorized as a subspecies of Bombus pensylvanicus.

<i>Bombus vancouverensis</i> Species of bee

Bombus vancouverensis is a common species of eusocial bumblebee of the subgenus Pyrobombus. B. vancouverensis inhabits mountainous regions of western North America, where it has long been considered as a synonym of Bombus bifarius, and essentially all of the literature on bifarius refers instead to vancouverensis. B. vancouverensis has been identified as one of the two species of bumblebee observed to use pheromones in kin recognition. The other is the frigid bumblebee, Bombus frigidus.

Bombus lantschouensis is one of many bumblebee species native to China. Like all bumblebee species, they are characterized by their round bodies that are larger than honeybees. They have diverse color patterns. but are known for their eye-catching black and yellow coloring. They are also known for their furry-like appearance due to their body being covered in soft hair which are long branched setae. This hair is referred to as pile.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Koch, Jonathan B.; Rodriguez, Juanita; Pitts, James P.; Strange, James P. (21 November 2018). "Phylogeny and population genetic analyses reveals cryptic speciation in the Bombus fervidus species complex (Hymenoptera: Apidae)". PLOS ONE. 13 (11): e0207080. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1307080K. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207080 . PMC   6248958 . PMID   30462683.
  2. "Bombus californicus Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  3. "Bombus californicus". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  4. Strange, James P.; Tripodi, Amber D. (13 January 2019). "Characterizing bumble bee (Bombus) communities in the United States and assessing a conservation monitoring method". Ecology and Evolution. 9 (3): 1061–1069. doi:10.1002/ece3.4783. PMC   6374645 . PMID   30805140.
  5. Koch, Jonathan B.; Lozier, Jeffrey; Strange, James P.; Ikerd, Harold; Griswold, Terry; Cordes, Nils; Solter, Leellen; Stewart, Isaac; Cameron, Sydney A. (30 December 2015). "USBombus, a database of contemporary survey data for North American Bumble Bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombus) distributed in the United States". Biodiversity Data Journal. 3 (3): e6833. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e6833 . PMC   4698456 . PMID   26751762.
  6. 1 2 Rao, Sujaya; Stephen, W. P. (2010). "Abundance and Diversity of Native Bumble Bees Associated with Agricultural Crops: The Willamette Valley Experience". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 2010: 1–9. doi: 10.1155/2010/354072 .
  7. Wray, Julie C.; Elle, Elizabeth (26 November 2014). "Flowering phenology and nesting resources influence pollinator community composition in a fragmented ecosystem". Landscape Ecology. 30 (2): 261–272. doi:10.1007/s10980-014-0121-0. S2CID   16394577.
  8. 1 2 3 Koch, Jonathan, et al. "Bumble Bees of the Western United States." Bumble Bees of the Western United States, U.S. Forest Service and Pollinator Partnership, 2012.
  9. Montalvo, A. M.; Riordan, E. C.; Beyers, Jan (2017). "Plant profile for Salvia mellifera, Updated 2017". Native Plant Recommendations for Southern California Ecoregions.
  10. Ascher, J., et al. "Bombus Californicus." Bombus californicus - -- Discover Life, The Polistes Corporation.

Further reading