Bombus affinis

Rusty-patched bumblebee
Photo of Bombus affinis queen (focus on the bee), lacking the rust coloring of the worker and male.[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Apidae
Genus:	Bombus
Subgenus:	Bombus
Species:	B. affinis
Binomial name
Bombus affinis Cresson, 1863[2]
The past range of Bombus affinis.

The rusty-patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) is a bumblebee in the subfamily Apinae. Its historical range in North America has been throughout the east and upper Midwest of the United States,^[3] north to in Ontario, Canada, where it is considered "species at risk",^[4] east to Quebec, south to Georgia, and west to the Dakotas.^[4] Its numbers have declined in 87% of its historical habitat range.^[3]

As its name suggests, it has a rusty-coloured patch bordered by yellow on the first half of its abdomen. It is medium- to large-sized bumble bee with an annual lifecycle.^[4] It is an excellent pollinator of wildflowers, cranberries, and other important crops, including plum, apple, alfalfa, and onion.^[3]

Until the 1980s, it was one of the most common species of bumblebee in southern Ontario. Since then, the species has had a drastic decline and is now difficult to find in its normal range. The only locality within Ontario where the rusty-patched bumblebee has been seen in the last five years is Pinery Provincial Park (Lambton County) despite widespread surveys in Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has begun a recovery project aimed at protecting the species and critical habitats centred in Pinery Provincial Park.^[4] These threats have been proposed as the cause of population decline: pathogen spillover from other species, pesticide use, and habitat fragmentation and loss.^[4] Surveys from 2001-2008 have located bombus affinis populations only in Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, and Southern Ontario.^[3]

References

Wikispecies has information related to: Bombus affinis