Bombus nevadensis

Last updated

Bombus nevadensis
Bombus nevadensis 080115.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Bombus
Subgenus: Bombias
Species:
B. nevadensis
Binomial name
Bombus nevadensis
(Cresson, 1874)

Bombus nevadensis, the Nevada bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee. It is native to North America, where it occurs from Alaska to California in the west, and east to Wisconsin, and in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. [1]

Contents

Description

A bumblebee with a long proboscis (tongue) and a short, dense fur, the females (queens and workers) have an entirely black head, while the face and top of the head of the male are yellow. [2] The thorax is yellow, sometimes with a hairless, black spot in the middle. The three first terga (abdominal segments) are yellow, while the rest of the abdomen is black. [1] However, the tip of the tail is more or less red in the male. [1] The average body length is 20 mm (0.79 in) for the queen, 17 mm (0.67 in) (worker) and 14 mm (0.55 in) (male). [2]

The black and gold bumblebee ( Bombus auricomus ) is sometimes considered a subspecies of this species, B. nevadensis auricomus. [1] Genetic and morphological evidence supports them as separate species. [3]

Ecology

This species inhabits open areas such as prairies and meadows. It usually nests underground. Food plants include milkvetches, thistles, melilots, bergamot, penstemons, phacelias, salvias, betony, and clovers. [3]

Related Research Articles

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

Bombus fraternus is an endangered species of bumblebee known commonly as the Southern Plains bumblebee. It is native to the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. It is most often encountered in the southern Great Plains and along the Gulf Coastal Plain. This species has been found as far north as New Jersey and North Dakota, and as far south as Florida along the Gulf Coastal Plain into the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. This species was uncommon historically, but having faced declines in population; its estimated abundance is less than 15% of historical numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early bumblebee</span> Species of bee

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.

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

Bombus barbutellus, or Barbut's cuckoo-bee, is a species of cuckoo bumblebee, widespread, if not especially common, in most of Europe.

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

Bombus campestris is a very common cuckoo bumblebee found in most of Europe.

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

Bombus insularis is a species of bumblebee in the subgenus Psithyrus, the cuckoo bumblebees. It is native to northern and western North America, where it occurs throughout Canada, Alaska, the northern United States, and some western states. It is known commonly as the indiscriminate cuckoo bumblebee.

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

Bombus monticola, the bilberry bumblebee, blaeberry bumblebee or mountain bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee found in Europe.

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

The heath humble-bee or small heath bumblebee, Bombus jonellus, is a species of bumblebee, widely distributed in Europe and northern Asia, as well as northern North America.

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

Bombus lucorum, the white-tailed bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee, widespread and common throughout Europe. This name has been widely used for a range of nearly identical-looking or cryptic species of bumblebees. In 1983, Scholl and Obrecht even coined the term Bombus lucorum complex to explain the three taxa that cannot be easily differentiated from one another by their appearances. A recent review of all of these species worldwide has helped to clarify its distribution in Europe and northern Asia, almost to the Pacific. B. lucorum reaches the Barents Sea in the North. However, in southern Europe, although found in Greece it is an upland species with its distribution never quite reaching the Mediterranean.

<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.

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

Bombus auricomus is a species of bumblebee known by the common name black and gold bumblebee. It is native to eastern North America, including Ontario and Saskatchewan in Canada and much of the eastern United States, as far west as the Great Plains.

<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.

Bombus cockerelli, Cockerell's bumblebee, is a yellow and black bumblebee known only from fewer than 30 specimens, collected at a few high-altitude localities in the White Mountains of New Mexico, all within an area of less than 300 square miles (780 km2), giving it the smallest range of any of the ~250 species of bumblebees in the world.

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

Bombus ruderarius, commonly known as the red-shanked carder bee or red-shanked bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee found in Eurasia.

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

Bombus argillaceus is a bumblebee species of the subgenus Megabombus, distributed from south and south-eastern Europe to western Asia.

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

Bombus centralis, the central bumblebee, is a species of bumble bee found in parts of Canada and the western United States. The species was first described by Ezra Townsend Cresson in 1864.

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

Bombus sitkensis, the Sitka bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee common in western North America from Alaska to California.

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

Bombus flavifrons, the yellow-fronted bumble bee or yellowhead bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee. It is native to North America, where it is distributed across much of Canada, Alaska, and the western contiguous United States.

<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 griseocollis</i> Species of bee

Bombus griseocollis is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the brown-belted bumblebee. It is native to much of the United States except for the Southwest, and to the southernmost regions of several of the provinces of Canada.

<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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "North American bumblebees". Bumblebee.org. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 Anthony P. Solli (1999-10-20). "Bees: An Interdisciplinary Approach". Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  3. 1 2 Hatfield, R., et al. 2015. Bombus nevadensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 04 March 2016.