Bombus muscorum | |
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Bombus muscorum agricolae – the Shetland subspecies | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Apidae |
Genus: | Bombus |
Subgenus: | Thoracobombus |
Species: | B. muscorum |
Binomial name | |
Bombus muscorum | |
Synonyms | |
Apis muscorumLinnaeus, 1758 |
Bombus muscorum, commonly known as the large carder bee or moss carder bee, is a species of bumblebee in the family Apidae. The species is found throughout Eurasia in fragmented populations, but is most commonly found in the British Isles. [2] [3] B. muscorum is a eusocial insect. The queen is monandrous, mating with only one male after leaving a mature nest to found its own. Males mate territorially and the species is susceptible to inbreeding and bottlenecks. The species builds its nests on or just under the ground in open grassland and forages very close to the nest. In recent years, populations have significantly declined due to loss of natural habitat. B. muscorum is currently listed as vulnerable in Europe by the European Red List of Bees. [4]
B. muscorum was one of the many insect species originally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It was given the binomial name Apis muscorum. [5] The species name muscorum is the genitive plural of the Latin mūscus, meaning moss.[ citation needed ]
B. muscorum is part of the order Hymenoptera, the third largest order of insects, which includes bees, wasps, ants, and sawflies. It is part of the subfamily Apinae, which contains the majority of species within the family Apidae. It is part of the tribe Bombini, which contains a single living genus Bombus, consisting entirely of bumblebees. Within Bombus , B. muscorum is part of the subgenus Thoracobombus , which includes closely relates species such Bombus pauloensis, Bombus dahlbomii, Bombus fervidus, Bombus morio, Bombus pensylvanicus, and Bombus transversalis. The species is further differentiated into at least seven different subspecies. [6] These include B. muscorum sladeni and B. muscorum smithianu, found in the United Kingdom and differentiated on the basis of coat color. [7] Certain forms of this variable taxon are considered separate species by some authors, including B. bannitus and B. pereziellus. [8]
B. muscorum is characterized by its oblong face and long tongue. The bristles of the species are ginger in color and cover the head, thorax, and abdomen. The abdomen, however, can have a darker, brownish coloring. In some subspecies, black bristles are intermixed with the ginger bristles that characterize the species. Some subspecies have an entirely black ventral side. [9] The species is similar in appearance to the more common Bombus pascuorum. [10] The queen has a body length 17–19 mm and a wingspan of 32–35 mm. Workers have a body length of 10–16 mm and a wingspan of 26–29 mm. Males have a body length of 13–15 mm and a wingspan of 26–29 mm. [11]
B. muscorum is widely distributed throughout Eurasia. Populations appear from Ireland in the West to Mongolia in the East. The species has been observed as far north as Scandinavia and Russia and has been spotted as far south as Crete. [12] Populations, however, are fairly rare in all locations. [13] Populations in the United Kingdom have declined sharply since the 1970s. Once widely distributed throughout the British Isles, distributions are now fragmented and predominantly coastal. Populations of other species, such as Bombus pascuorum , appear to be replacing B. muscorum in some parts of Northern Britain. [14] The species is still relatively abundant in Northern Scotland. [15] B. muscorum is classified as vulnerable in Europe by the IUCN. [4]
B. muscorum inhabits moors, grasslands, and salt marshes, where it builds its nest above ground. [16] In the British Isles, B. muscorum nests in open landscapes near coastal areas in the lowlands. Populations are found in moorland and machair in the North. In the South, populations are found in coastal marshes, shingle, and calcareous grasslands. [7] Nests have been found near open regions of fallowed land and man-made ditches. [17] Colonies are small, numbering between 20 and 100 workers. [18]
B. muscorum is polylectic, the diet of the species depends on the surrounding area. The species has a strong preference for flowers of the families Fabaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Lamiaceae, and Asteraceae. [3] Common food sources include clover, bird's-foot trefoil, vetches, and thistles. [9] Flowers with long corollas are especially dependent on the long-tongued species. [17]
A number of new queens are produced in the last brood of the summer colony. These queens mate and then hibernate for an average of 9 months. From March to May, these queens emerge from hibernation to search for nesting sites. After a suitable site is found, the queen lays a small batch of diploid eggs. Once these eggs hatch, the queen tends to the larvae until they are grown and pupate. These pupa emerge as workers. From June onward, the queen will produce a steady supply of workers. From July to September, new males and queens are present and mate. [11]
B. muscorum, like many bees, exhibit haplodiploidy. The diploid queens produce diploid workers and new queens from fertilized eggs. Haploid males are produced from unfertilized eggs. Workers are also able to lay unfertilized eggs that develop into males. [15] Haploid males produce identical haploid sperm while diploid females produce genetically variant haploid eggs through meiosis. Sex is determined under a single-locus complementary sex determination (sl-CSD) system, where multiple alleles at a single locus determine the sex of an individual. Sex locus heterozygotes develop as females, while hemizygous and homozygous eggs develop as haploid and diploid males. [19]
B. muscorum is thought to be a monandrous species; the queen mates only once with a single male to start a new colony. [15] This monandrous behavior decreases the amount of genetic variation present in a single colony relative to that of a polygynous or polyandrous species. As a result, B. muscorum has an increased susceptibility to the effects of inbreeding. [18] Queens may possess a distinctive odor that signals relatedness and prevents interbreeding. [15] Studies have shown, however, that mating appears to be random. [18]
Male mating strategies of bumblebees can be grouped into four broad categories: patrolling, racing, territorial, and cruising. Males of B. muscorum exhibit territorial strategies for mating. In this strategy, males choose a perch outside of a mature nest and pursue potential mates that it spots. Males compete with one another for preferred perches, each attempting to find a spot close to the nest entrance. When another bee flies too close to a perched male, the male sets off in pursuit for several seconds, seeking to either chase away a potential competitor or mount a potential mate. After the chase, one of the males will land back at the perch close to the nest. [15]
As a result of small population sizes and haplodiploidy, B. muscorum has an increased susceptibility to inbreeding. As sex is determined at a single locus, the overall fitness of a population is directly related to the number of different alleles at the sex locus, which in turn is related to the size and isolation of the population. [7] When males mate with related queens, diploid males with reduced fertility and immune response are produced. [18] 10 out of 14 B. muscorum populations in the Hebrides showed significant signs of recent bottlenecking. In recent years, diploid males have come to represent a considerable proportion of males within populations in the British Isles, suggesting an increase in inbreeding among populations. [7]
B. muscorum exhibit small foraging ranges, having been recorded going no further than 500 m from their nest to forage. Foraging, however, often takes place within 100 m of the nest. Individuals are often observed foraging at the same spots between 50 and 200 m away from the nest. This variation in individual flight range is attributed to an individual's body size. [20] B. muscorum has been described as doorstep foragers, due to the tendency of workers to use food resources near the nest more frequently than the workers of other species. This restricted radius may be an important factor in the decline of the species. [21]
B. muscorum build its nest on or just under the ground. It cards together collected moss and dry grass to cover the nest. It is this behavior that gives B. muscorum the name moss carder bee. [10] [22] It rarely, if ever, crosses sea barriers greater than 10 km to establish a nesting site. Once a nest is established, the bee is notoriously aggressive, readily attacking intruders that are too close to the nest, which they bite and sting simultaneously. [18]
B. muscorum may contract infections of Crithidia bombi, a trypanosome parasite, from infected nest mates or from others while foraging on contaminated flowers. [23] Infections have been linked to reduced individual and colony fitness, but the specific relationship between Crithidia bombi and B. muscorum is complex. [24] The presence of Crithidia bombi has been found to be higher in populations with lower genetic diversity. As B. muscorum populations continue to lose heterozygosity, the impact of parasitism increases, pushing already threatened populations closer to extinction. [25]
Due to recent decades of agricultural intensification in Europe, the natural habitat of B. muscorum has been largely diminished. Many of the permanent flower-rich areas where the bee commonly forages have been destroyed by increased commercial farming. [26] B. muscorum has poor dispersal ability compared to other species of bumblebee, making it more vulnerable to habitat loss. As a result, populations have decreased dramatically in recent decades. [27]
B. muscorum is currently listed as vulnerable in Europe by the IUCN. [4] Populations are diminishing in Britain and the species is currently in a species recovery program. Decreasing populations are evident in multiple European countries. Estonia lists the species as vulnerable. Germany and the Netherlands consider the species to be endangered. [28]
B. muscorum is often found on sea wall flood defenses managed by the Environment Agency. Nests can be found on the flat grassy area between the sea and the borrowdyke, a brackish pond behind the sea wall. As grasslands on sea walls are predominantly unimproved, they have become an important habitat for rare insect species such as B. muscorum. Current research is examining how these sea walls can be maintained to preserve rare populations. [29]
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.
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.
Bombus ternarius, commonly known as the orange-belted bumblebee or tricolored bumblebee, is a yellow, orange and black bumblebee. It is a ground-nesting social insect whose colony cycle lasts only one season, common throughout the northeastern United States and much of Canada. The orange-belted bumblebee forages on Rubus, goldenrods, Vaccinium, and milkweeds found throughout the colony's range. Like many other members of the genus, Bombus ternarius exhibits complex social structure with a reproductive queen caste and a multitude of sister workers with labor such as foraging, nursing, and nest maintenance divided among the subordinates.
The early bumblebee or early-nesting bumblebee is a small bumblebee with a wide distribution in most of Europe and parts of Asia. It is very commonly found in the UK and emerges to begin its colony cycle as soon as February which is earlier than most other species, hence its common name. There is even some evidence that the early bumblebee may be able to go through two colony cycles in a year. Like other bumblebees, Bombus pratorum lives in colonies with queen and worker castes. Bombus pratorum queens use aggressive behavior rather than pheromones to maintain dominance over the workers.
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.
Bombus hortorum, the garden bumblebee or small garden bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee found in most of Europe north to 70°N, as well as parts of Asia and New Zealand. It is distinguished from most other bumblebees by its long tongue used for feeding on pollen in deep-flowered plants. Accordingly, this bumblebee mainly visits flowers with deep corollae, such as deadnettles, ground ivy, vetches, clovers, comfrey, foxglove, and thistles. They have a good visual memory, which aids them in navigating the territory close to their habitat and seeking out food sources.
Bombus pascuorum, the common carder bee, is a species of bumblebee present in most of Europe in a wide variety of habitats such as meadows, pastures, waste ground, ditches and embankments, roads, and field margins, as well as gardens and parks in urban areas and forests and forest edges. It is similar in appearance to Bombus muscorum, and is replacing that species in northern Britain.
The brown-banded carder bee is a bumblebee found in most of Europe west of Russia, with the exception of Ireland and Iceland. It is also found in Turkey, on the Tibetan plateau, northern China, eastern and southern Mongolia, and parts of North Korea. In Britain, it is limited to the coast and chalkland areas of southern England. The brown-banded carder bee is similar in appearance to the moss carder bee. As they share similar habitats, care must be taken to distinguish between the two.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bombus affinis, commonly known as the rusty patched bumble bee, is a species of bumblebee endemic to North America. Its historical range in North America has been throughout the east and upper Midwest of the United States, north to Ontario, Canada, where it is considered a "species at risk", east to Quebec, south to Georgia, and west to the Dakotas. Its numbers have declined in 87% of its historical habitat range. On January 10, 2017, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service placed B. affinis on the list of endangered species, making the rusty patched bumble bee the first bee to be added to the list in the continental United States.
Bombus terricola, the yellow-banded bumble bee, is a species of bee in the genus Bombus. It is native to southern Canada and the east and midwest of the United States. It possesses complex behavioral traits, such as the ability to adapt to a queenless nest, choose which flower to visit, and regulate its temperature to fly during cold weather. It was at one time a common species, but has declined in numbers since the late 1990s, likely due to urban development and parasite infection. It is a good pollinator of wild flowers and crops such as alfalfa, potatoes, raspberries, and cranberries.
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.
Bombus ignitus is a species of bumblebee in the family Apidae. It is mainly distributed in Eastern Asia, commonly found in China, Japan and Korea. It is used in China and Japan commercially as a pollinator. B. ignitus is a eusocial insect with a queen that is monandrous: mating with only one male in the late summer before hibernating until the following spring. It builds its nest out of a mass of pollen and lays its eggs after completion. Due to numerous conflicts between queens and fertile workers, some surviving queens are badly injured, described by some as living corpses.
Bombus vancouverensis, the Vancouver Island Bumblebee, 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 hypocrita, also known as the short-tongued bumblebee, is a Japanese bumblebee commonly used in commercial pollination. These short-tongued bumblebees have a proboscis about 7-9mm long, which is folded under their head when flying. Bumblebees are a small fuzzy insect with yellow and black banding along their abdomen. They are round and covered in pile, the hair-like structures that give them their distinct fuzzy appearance.
Crithidia bombi is a parasitic protist from the order Trypanosomatida. It is the most prevalent parasite of bumblebees.