The Six Cuckoo Bees Did You Know Six of the UK’S 24 Bumblebees Are Cuckoo Bees, and Are Named This Way Because, Just Like the Bird, They Have a Parasitic Lifestyle

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

The six cuckoo bees Did you know six of the UK’s 24 bumblebees are cuckoo bees, and are named this way because, just like the bird, they have a parasitic lifestyle. But don’t be alarmed, they are important pollinators in their own right and are not a major threat to social bumblebee populations. A female cuckoo bee will go into the nest of a social bumblebee, kill the queen, and take it over for herself. A cuckoo bee does not produce any workers, just new females and males. They also don’t collect pollen because the original queen’s workers collect it for them! This is why cuckoo bumblebees don’t have pollen baskets on their legs. For more information on different bumblebee species visit bumblebeeconservation.org Field cuckoo bee • Bombus campestris Southern cuckoo bee • Bombus vestalis Widespread. Common in South. Attacks mainly Attacks mainly Buff- Common carder tailed bumblebees. bees. Two male The tail is white, with forms occur; light large yellow patches and dark. The on the left and right wings are strongly at the front of the dark tinged. tail. Female/Male Female/Male Forest cuckoo bee • Bombus sylvestris Barbut’s cuckoo bee • Bombus barbutellus Widespread. Widespread. Attacks mainly Early Attacks mainly bumblebees. The tail Garden bumblebees. is white, although The tail is white. The males have a small wings have a dark, patch of red/ dusky appearance. orange at the tip of Some can appear Female/Male the tail. Female/Male almost black. Gypsy cuckoo bee • Bombus bohemicus Red-tailed cuckoo bee • Bombus rupestris Widespread. Attacks Southern species. mainly White-tailed Attacks mainly Red- bumblebees. The tails tailed bumblebees. are white with small Males have straw yellow patches on the coloured banding sides. Largely on thorax and restricted to the north abdomen. Female/Male and west. Female/Male The1 Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a registered charity (England & Wales 1115634/Scotland SC042830). BBCT168. March 2021. Copyright 2021 ©. All rights reserved..

Copy Link

Recommended publications

Wisconsin Bee Identification Guide
WisconsinWisconsin BeeBee IdentificationIdentification GuideGuide Developed by Patrick Liesch, Christy Stewart, and Christine Wen Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) The honey bee is perhaps our best-known pollinator. Honey bees are not native to North America and were brought over with early settlers. Honey bees are mid-sized bees (~ ½ inch long) and have brownish bodies with bands of pale hairs on the abdomen. Honey bees are unique with their social behavior, living together year-round as a colony consisting of thousands of individuals. Honey bees forage on a wide variety of plants and their colonies can be useful in agricultural settings for their pollination services. Honey bees are our only bee that produces honey, which they use as a food source for the colony during the winter months. In many cases, the honey bees you encounter may be from a local beekeeper’s hive. Occasionally, wild honey bee colonies can become established in cavities in hollow trees and similar settings. Photo by Christy Stewart Bumble bees (Bombus sp.) Bumble bees are some of our most recognizable bees. They are amongst our largest bees and can be close to 1 inch long, although many species are between ½ inch and ¾ inch long. There are ~20 species of bumble bees in Wisconsin and most have a robust, fuzzy appearance. Bumble bees tend to be very hairy and have black bodies with patches of yellow or orange depending on the species. Bumble bees are a type of social bee Bombus rufocinctus and live in small colonies consisting of dozens to a few hundred workers. Photo by Christy Stewart Their nests tend to be constructed in preexisting underground cavities, such as former chipmunk or rabbit burrows.
[Show full text]
Seasonal and Spatial Patterns of Mortality and Sex Ratio in the Alfalfa
Seasonal and spatial patterns of mortality and sex ratio in the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata (F.) by Ruth Pettinga ONeil A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Entomology Montana State University © Copyright by Ruth Pettinga ONeil (2004) Abstract: Nests from five seed alfalfa sites of the alfalfa leafcutting bee Megachile rotundata (F.) were monitored over the duration of the nesting season in 2000 and 2001, from early July through late August. Cells containing progeny of known age and known position within the nest were subsequently analyzed for five commonly encountered categories of pre-diapause mortality in this species. Chalkbrood and pollen ball had the strongest seasonal relationships of mortality factors studied. Chalkbrood incidence was highest in early-produced cells. Pollen ball was higher in late-season cells. Chalkbrood, parasitism by the chalcid Pteromalus venustus, and death of older larvae and prepupae , due to unknown source(s) exhibited the strongest cell-position relationships. Both chalkbrood and parasitoid incidence were highest in the inner portions of nests. The “unknown” category of mortality was highest in outer portions of nests. Sex ratio was determined for a subset of progeny reared to adulthood. The ratio of females to males is highest in cells in inner nest positions. Sex ratio is female-biased very early in the nesting season, when all cells being provisioned are the inner cells of nests, due to the strong positional effect on sex ratio. SEASONAL AND SPATIAL PATTERNS OF MORTALITY AND SEX RATIO IN THE ALFALFA LEAFCUTTING BEE, Megachile rotundata (F.) by .
[Show full text]
Scottish Bees
Scottish Bees Introduction to bees Bees are fascinating insects that can be found in a broad range of habitats from urban gardens to grasslands and wetlands. There are over 270 species of bee in the UK in 6 families - 115 of these have been recorded in Scotland, with 4 species now thought to be extinct and insufficient data available for another 2 species. Bees are very diverse, varying in size, tongue-length and flower preference. In the UK we have 1 species of honey bee, 24 species of bumblebee and the rest are solitary bees. They fulfil an essential ecological and environmental role as one of the most significant groups of pollinating insects, all of which we depend upon for the pollination of 80% of our wild and cultivated plants. Some flowers are in fact designed specifically for bee pollination, to the exclusion of generalist pollinators. Bees and their relatives Bees are classified in the complex insect order Hymenoptera (meaning membrane-winged), which also includes many kinds of parasitic wasps, gall wasps, hunting wasps, ants and sawflies. There are about 150,000 species of Hymenoptera known worldwide separated into two sub-orders. The first is the most primitive sub-order Symphyta which includes the sawflies and their relatives, lacking a wasp-waist and generally with free-living caterpillar-like larvae. The second is the sub-order Apocrita, which includes the ants, bees and wasps which are ’wasp-waisted’ and have grub-like larvae that develop within hosts, galls or nests. The sub-order Apocrita is in turn divided into two sections, the Parasitica and Aculeata.
[Show full text]
Bees and Wasps of the East Sussex South Downs
A SURVEY OF THE BEES AND WASPS OF FIFTEEN CHALK GRASSLAND AND CHALK HEATH SITES WITHIN THE EAST SUSSEX SOUTH DOWNS Steven Falk, 2011 A SURVEY OF THE BEES AND WASPS OF FIFTEEN CHALK GRASSLAND AND CHALK HEATH SITES WITHIN THE EAST SUSSEX SOUTH DOWNS Steven Falk, 2011 Abstract For six years between 2003 and 2008, over 100 site visits were made to fifteen chalk grassland and chalk heath sites within the South Downs of Vice-county 14 (East Sussex). This produced a list of 227 bee and wasp species and revealed the comparative frequency of different species, the comparative richness of different sites and provided a basic insight into how many of the species interact with the South Downs at a site and landscape level. The study revealed that, in addition to the character of the semi-natural grasslands present, the bee and wasp fauna is also influenced by the more intensively-managed agricultural landscapes of the Downs, with many species taking advantage of blossoming hedge shrubs, flowery fallow fields, flowery arable field margins, flowering crops such as Rape, plus plants such as buttercups, thistles and dandelions within relatively improved pasture. Some very rare species were encountered, notably the bee Halictus eurygnathus Blüthgen which had not been seen in Britain since 1946. This was eventually recorded at seven sites and was associated with an abundance of Greater Knapweed. The very rare bees Anthophora retusa (Linnaeus) and Andrena niveata Friese were also observed foraging on several dates during their flight periods, providing a better insight into their ecology and conservation requirements.
[Show full text]
Bees, Wasps & Ants
Sheringham and Beeston Regis Commons SSSI / SAC FAUNA: Hymenoptera INSECTA (Pterygota) Family/Order English Name. Scientific Name. Authority. Grid Ref. Tetrad/ Last Km sq. Common. Record. HYMENOPTERA. PAMPHILIDAE: Sawfly. Pamphilius inanitus (Villers, 1789) TG1642 1987? (Bees, Wasps and Ants) ARGIDAE: Elm Zig-zag Sawfly. Aproceros leucopoda Takeuchi, 1939 TG1642 14R/B 2020 Bramble Sawfly. Arge cyaneocrocea (Forster, 1771) TG1642 2016 Sawfly. Arge gracilicornis (Klug, 1814 ) TG1642 1987? CIMBICIDAE: Honeysuckle Sawfly. Abia lonicerae (Linnaeus) TG1641 14Q/B 2015 Club-horned Sawfly. Abia sericera (Linnaeus) TG1642 14R/B 2014 Club-horned Sawfly. Zaraea fasciata Linnaeus, 1758 TG1641/42 14R,14Q/B 2014 Birch Sawfly. Cimbex femoratus (Linnaeus, 1758) TG1642 14R/B 2017 SIRICIDAE: Greater Horntail Wasp. Urocerus gigas (Linnaeus, 1758) TG1642 14R/S 1992 CEPHIDAE: Sawfly. Calameuta pallipes (Klug, 1803) TG1642 1987? TENTHREDINIDAE: Willow Sawfly. Pontania proxima (Lepeletier, 1823) TG1642 14R/BS 2009 Willow Sawfly. Eupontania pedunculi (Hartig, 1837) TG1642 14R/B 1999 Willow Sawfly. Eupontainia viminalis (Linnaeus, 1758) TG1642 14R/B 2002 Willow Sawfly. Pontainia bridgemanii (Cameron, 1883) TG1642 14R/B 1999 Sawfly. Caliroa annulipes (Klug, 1816) TG1642 14R/S 2002 Hazel Sawfly. Craesus septentrionalis (Linnaeus, 1758) TG1641 14Q/B 2017 Sawfly. Blennocampa phyllocolpa Viitasaari & Vikberg, 1985 TG1642/41 14R,14Q/B 2003 Sawfly. Selandria serva (Fabricius, 1793) TG1642 14R/B 2013 Sawfly. Aneugmenus padi (Linnaeus, 1761) TG1642 1987? Bracken Sawfly. Strongylogaster multifasciata (Geoffroy, 1785) TG1642 14R/BS 2020 Sawfly. Dichrodolerus vestigialis (Klug, 1818) TG1642 1996 Sawfly. Dolerus germanicus (Fabricius, 1775) TG1642 1987? Sawfly. Eutomostethus ephippium (Panzer, 1798) TG1642 14R/BS 2020 Sawfly. Poodolerus aeneus Hartig, 1837 TG1642 1987? Sawfly. Dolerus brevitarus Hartig TG1642 1987? Sawfly.
[Show full text]
Irish Bumblebees 2 (2012)
Slideshow 2: 2012 IRISH BUMBLEBEES 2 Thanks to all those who have generously allowed their photographs to be used in this guide Photographs will first appear unlabelled so that you have the option to test your identification if you wish ©Ralph Sheppard Bombus pascuorum: this species can be very variable. Always look for the combination of ginger thorax and some black hairs on the abdomen ©Ralph Sheppard ©Anneke Vrieling Bombus pascuorum: this species seems to be more prone to fading and becoming worn than the other species. This individual is exceptionally worn but you can see that the thorax is a uniform colour (has to be ginger) and that the abdomen has some black hairs. ©Anneke Vrieling Queen ©Patrick McGurn Bombus lucorum: One band on the thorax. Bands are lemon yellow and the tail is a clean white. ©Patrick McGurn Worker With only a photograph, it is difficult to get a perspective of the size of workers in comparison to the queens. Queens are noticeably large (particularly B. terrestris) and are only observed occasionally ©Paul Spain outside spring. Bombus lucorum agg: This worker has one band on thorax and a ‘white’ tail. Unless it’s a queen (would be larger) you cannot reliably distinguish B. lucorum from B. terrestris regardless of band and tail colour. With only a photograph, it is difficult to get a perspective of the size of workers in comparison to the queens. Queens are noticeably large (particularly B. terrestris) and are only observed occasionally ©Paul Spain outside spring. ©Michael O’Donnell Bombus monticola male: Note that most of the abdomen is a rich red.
[Show full text]
The Evolution of Parasitism Among Bees
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All PIRU Publications Pollinating Insects Research Unit 1970 The Evolution of Parasitism Among Bees George E. Bohart Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/piru_pubs Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Bohart, George E. 1970. The evolution and parasitism among bees. Faculty Honor Lecture, Utah State University, April 22, 1970. 41st 30 p. This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the Pollinating Insects Research Unit at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All PIRU Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 41st FACULTY HONOR LECTURE - APRIL• 22, 1970 than State Un/ve/S/ty THE EVOLUTION OF PARASITISM AMONG BEES George E. Bohart Entomology Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture FORTY -FIRST HONOR LECTURE SPRING 1970 THE FACUL TV ASSOCIATION FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL HONOR LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE UNIVERSITY A basic ob jective of The Faculty As ociation of tah State University, in the words of its con titution. is: to encourage intellectual growth and development of its mem bers by pon oring and arranging for the publication of two an nual facult_ research lectures in the fi elds of ( I ) the biological and exact cience , including engi neering. called the Annual Faculty Honor Lecture in the Natural Sciences; and (2) the humanities and ocial ciences. incl uding education and busi ness administration, called the Annual Faculty Honor Lecture in the Humanities. The administration of the University i ympatheric wi th the e aims and shares, through the Scholarly Publications Committee, the costs of publishing and distributing the e lectures.
[Show full text]
Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee,Bombus Bohemicus
COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee Bombus bohemicus in Canada ENDANGERED 2014 COSEWIC status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This report may be cited as follows: COSEWIC. 2014. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bombus bohemicus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. ix + 56 pp. (www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default_e.cfm). Production note: COSEWIC would like to acknowledge Sheila Colla, Cory Sheffield and Leif Richardson for writing the status report on the Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Bombus bohemicus, in Canada, prepared under contract with Environment Canada. This report was overseen and edited by Jennifer Heron, Co-chair of the COSEWIC Arthropods Specialist Subcommittee. For additional copies contact: COSEWIC Secretariat c/o Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Tel.: 819-953-3215 Fax: 819-994-3684 E-mail: COSEWIC/[email protected] http://www.cosewic.gc.ca Également disponible en français sous le titre Ếvaluation et Rapport de situation du COSEPAC sur le Psithyre bohémien (Bombus bohemicus) au Canada. Cover illustration/photo: Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee — Provided by the authors. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2014. Catalogue No. CW69-14/692-2014E-PDF ISBN 978-1-100-23931-6 Recycled paper COSEWIC Assessment Summary Assessment Summary – May 2014 Common name Gypsy Cuckoo Bumble Bee Scientific name Bombus bohemicus Status Endangered Reason for designation This large and distinctive bee is a nest parasite of other bumble bees.
[Show full text]
Pollinators in Peril: a Systematic Status Review of North American
POLLINATORS in Peril A systematic status review of North American and Hawaiian native bees Kelsey Kopec & Lori Ann Burd • Center for Biological Diversity • February 2017 Executive Summary hile the decline of European honeybees in the United States and beyond has been well publicized in recent years, the more than 4,000 species of native bees in North W America and Hawaii have been much less documented. Although these native bees are not as well known as honeybees, they play a vital role in functioning ecosystems and also provide more than $3 billion dollars in fruit-pollination services each year just in the United States. For this first-of-its-kind analysis, the Center for Biological Diversity conducted a systematic review of the status of all 4,337 North American and Hawaiian native bees. Our key findings: • Among native bee species with sufficient data to assess (1,437), more than half (749) are declining. • Nearly 1 in 4 (347 native bee species) is imperiled and at increasing risk of extinction. • For many of the bee species lacking sufficient population data, it’s likely they are also declining or at risk of extinction. Additional research is urgently needed to protect them. • A primary driver of these declines is agricultural intensification, which includes habitat destruction and pesticide use. Other major threats are climate change and urbanization. These troubling findings come as a growing body of research has revealed that more than 40 percent of insect pollinators globally are highly threatened, including many of the native bees critical to unprompted crop and wildflower pollination across the United States.
[Show full text]
PETITION to LIST the VARIABLE CUCKOO BUMBLE BEE Bombus Variabilis (Cresson 1872) UNDER the ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT and CONCURRENTLY DESIGNATE CRITICAL HABITAT
BEFORE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR PETITION TO LIST THE VARIABLE CUCKOO BUMBLE BEE Bombus variabilis (Cresson 1872) UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND CONCURRENTLY DESIGNATE CRITICAL HABITAT Variable Cuckoo Bumble Bee (top) male side (bottom) male face USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab Photo by Brook Goggins CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY April 27th, 2021 NOTICE OF PETITION Charles Wooley, Regional Director Deb Haaland, Secretary Region 3 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Department of the Interior 5600 American Blvd. West, Suite 990 1849 C Street NW Bloomington, MN 55437-1458 Washington, D.C. 20240 [email protected] [email protected] Leopoldo Miranda, Regional Director Martha Williams, Principal Deputy Director Region 4 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1875 Century Blvd. NE 1849 C Street NW Atlanta, GA 30345 Washington, D.C. 20240 [email protected] [email protected] Gary Frazer, Assistant Director for Wendi Weber, Regional Director Endangered Species Region 5 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 300 Westgate Center Dr. 1840 C Street NW Hadley, MA 01035 Washington, D.C. 20240 [email protected] [email protected] Noreen Walsh, Regional Director Amy Leuders, Regional Director Region 6 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 134 Union Boulevard, Suite 650 P.O. Box 1306 Lakewood, CO 80228 Albuquerque, NM 87103-1306 [email protected] [email protected] ii Pursuant to Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b); Section 553(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C.
[Show full text]
The State of Ireland's Bees
THE STATE OF IRELAND’S BEES www.ehsni.gov.uk Bee Leaflet SUMMARY Bees are essential because they are very important pollinators of plants. They help pollinate both crops and native plants, making them of huge economic and ecological importance to Ireland. Bees vary in their social organization. Bumblebees and honeybees are highly social insects. They live in colonies consisting of a queen, many female workers and some males. Other bees live alone instead of in a colony and are called solitary bees, though a few also live in rather simple societies. Only 3% of the 20,000 bee species worldwide are social, colony forming bees. There are 101 bee species in Ireland. Nineteen of these species are bumblebees, and more than half of these bumblebee species are in decline. Ireland has one native honeybee species. Most of the other 81 bee species in Ireland are solitary. Nearly half of these solitary species are in decline. A regional Red Data List of bees has been produced and tells us which bee species are in most danger in Ireland. Six species are critically endangered (CR), 7 are endangered (EN), 16 are vulnerable (VU) and 13 are near threatened (NT). Sadly, three bee species have become extinct in Ireland within the last 80 years. Despite lots of species being in serious decline, there are no protected bee species here. The Marsh Fritillary butterfly is the only insect that is protected by law in the Irish Republic. The Marsh Fritillary and five other butterfly species are the only insects protected by law in Northern Ireland.
[Show full text]
(Native) Bee Basics
A USDA Forest Service and Pollinator Partnership Publication Bee Basics An Introduction to Our Native Bees By Beatriz Moisset, Ph.D. and Stephen Buchmann, Ph.D. Cover Art: Upper panel: The southeastern blueberry bee Habropoda( laboriosa) visiting blossoms of Rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum). Lower panel: Female andrenid bees (Andrena cornelli) foraging for nectar on Azalea (Rhododendron canescens). A USDA Forest Service and Pollinator Partnership Publication Bee Basics: An Introduction to Our Native Bees By Beatriz Moisset, Ph.D. and Stephen Buchmann, Ph.D. Illustrations by Steve Buchanan A USDA Forest Service and Pollinator Partnership Publication United States Department of Agriculture Acknowledgments Edited by Larry Stritch, Ph.D. Julie Nelson Teresa Prendusi Laurie Davies Adams Worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) visiting almond blossoms (Prunus dulcis). Introduction Native bees are a hidden treasure. From alpine meadows in the national forests of the Rocky Mountains to the Sonoran Desert in the Coronado National Forest in Arizona and from the boreal forests of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to the Ocala National Forest in Florida, bees can be found anywhere in North America, where flowers bloom. From forests to farms, from cities to wildlands, there are 4,000 native bee species in the United States, from the tiny Perdita minima to large carpenter bees. Most people do not realize that there were no honey bees in America before European settlers brought hives from Europe. These resourceful animals promptly managed to escape from domestication. As they had done for millennia in Europe and Asia, honey bees formed swarms and set up nests in hollow trees.
[Show full text]