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]
| Bombus californicus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| 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
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| Synonyms | |
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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]
References
edit- ^ a b c d 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.
- ^ "Bombus californicus Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ "Bombus californicus". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ a b "Bombus californicus species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ Montalvo, A. M.; Riordan, E. C.; Beyers, Jan (2017). "Plant profile for Salvia mellifera, Updated 2017". Native Plant Recommendations for Southern California Ecoregions.
- ^ Ascher, J., et al. "Bombus Californicus." Bombus californicus - -- Discover Life, The Polistes Corporation.
Further reading
edit- Williams, P. H. (1998). "An annotated checklist of bumble bees with an analysis of patterns of description (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Bombini)". Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, Entomology Series. 67 (1): 79–152. ISSN 0968-0454.
- Ascher, J.S.; Pickering, J. (2019). "Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)". Retrieved 2019-07-02.
External links
edit
Media related to Bombus californicus at Wikimedia Commons
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