Bombus sandersoni

Bombus sandersoni is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the Sanderson bumblebee.[1][2] It is native to North America, where it occurs across Canada and in the eastern United States.[1]

Bombus sandersoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Bombus
Subgenus: Pyrobombus
Species:
B. sandersoni
Binomial name
Bombus sandersoni
Franklin, 1913

The queen is 15 to 16 millimeters long and 6 millimeters wide at the abdomen. It is black with pale hairs on the head and yellow on the abdomen. The worker is up to 13 millimeters long and 5 millimeters wide. It is similar to the queen except the tip of the abdomen is black. The male is 10 to 13 millimeters long and 5 to 6 millimeters wide. It has long hairs, yellow on the head and part of the abdomen and black at the end of the abdomen.[3]

This bee occurs in maritime Canada, temperate forest, the Canadian Prairies, tundra, and taiga. It lives in and around wooded areas. It feeds on several types of plants, including cohosh, fireweeds, kalmia, honeysuckles, bergamot, blackberries, and bilberries.[1] It nests underground.[1]

This bee has faced no significant declines. It may, however, be more sensitive to climate change than other bee taxa.[1]

This species was found to harbor the bee parasite Nosema bombi.[4]

References
  1. Hatfield, R., et al. 2015. Bombus sandersoni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 March 2016.
  2. NatureServe. 2015. Bombus sandersoni. NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 10 March 2016.
  3. Bombus sandersoni. Mitchell, T. B. 1962. Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152. Reprinted in Discoverlife.org.
  4. Sokolova, Y. Y., Sokolov, I. M., & Carlton, C. E. (2010). Identification of Nosema bombi Fantham and Porter 1914 (Microsporidia) in Bombus impatiens and Bombus sandersoni from Great Smoky Mountains National Park (USA). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 103(1), 71-73.
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