Sonoran Bumble Bee
Bombus sonorus
Description 5
(1) Workers are usually 14 to 18 millimeters long and queens are even larger. This bumblebee has an all black head with the front and back of the thorax yellow, but with a broad black transverse band between the wings. The abdomen is all yellow except for the hind three segments, which are black. In young individuals, the yellow body hairs can be a brilliant yellow.
(2) Similar to the very closely related pensylvanicus, but in sonorus the dorsum of the thorax is yellow posteriorly and there is a distinct black interalar band, whereas in typical pensylvanicus the dorsum of the thorax is largely or entirely black posteriorly. Unlike B. fervidus, T4 of females is black.
Habitat 5
(2) Mostly low elevations including deserts and cultivated valleys.
Diet 5
(1) This bumblebee visits a very broad range of flowering plants including sunflowers, thistles, clover, Black-eyed Susans, and many others.
(2) Strongly associated with sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) but also visits many other plants, notably nightshades (Solanum) and globe mallows (Sphaeralcea).
Ecological Significance 5
(2) Has declined severely in its northern California range and no longer detected at sites where it was abundant in the 1990s. Still regularly found in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts but number vary greatly between years depending, reflecting in part availability of its favorite host plants whose bloom depends on irregular rainfall. Texas Parks & Wildlife considers this to be a "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" (SGCN)
Life Cycle 5
(3) The queen places pollen in the middle of the nest in which she lays her eggs, and then she seals it with a wax covering. She also makes a honeypot, a wax cup filled with nectar, which she feeds from while waiting for the larvae to emerge. The larvae feed on the pollen inside their wax covering, and then the queen continues to feed them through an opening in the wax covering. The larvae spin cocoons when they are ready, and then emerge in their adult form. At the end of summer, the queen produces unfertilized eggs that develop into drones. Females produced during this time become new queens. The drones and workers die and the new, mated queens fly to a new nest site.
(4) Nests are typically located under-ground in abandoned pocket gopher burrows. This species is extremely pugnacious in defense of its nest. Brood rearing is typical for the subgenus
Subspecies 5
Bombus sonorus flavodorsalis
Bombus sonorus sonorus
References 5
(1) https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/SonoranBumblebee.shtml
(2) https://bugguide.net/node/view/95153
(3) https://nwexterminating.com/pest-id/sonoran-bumble-bee/
Fontes e Créditos
- (c) James Bailey, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-NC), uploaded by James Bailey
- (c) Diana-Terry Hibbitts, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Diana-Terry Hibbitts
- (c) Marshal Hedin, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Marshal Hedin
- (c) Bodo Nuñez Oberg, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Bodo Nuñez Oberg
- (c) Justin Foucart, alguns direitos reservados (CC BY-SA)
