bumblebees behaviour ecology and conservation dec 2009

[...]... sections, Odontobombus and Anodontobombus (Krüger 1920) These phylogenetic relationships are of relevance to ecologists and conservationists because they correspond with differences in ecology between species For example, Bombias and Mendacibombus have a distinctive nest-building behaviour; Megabombus generally have very long tongues and favour deep flowers; Thoracobombus tend to nest 4 Bumblebees 1.0 SF... species produce nectar at night so that nectar levels are highest first thing in the morning and subsequently decline through exploitation by bees) 3 Social Organization and Conflict With their fat and furry appearance, their slow, meandering flight amongst flowers and their docile behaviour, it is easy to dismiss bumblebees as charming but dim Examination of a nest might confirm this opinion; it is, in... indeed most other insects), and most are covered in dense fur Owing to this combination of size and insulation, bumblebees are capable of endothermy, and they are well adapted for activity in cool conditions (Heinrich 1993) It is thus not surprising that bumblebees are largely confined to temperate, alpine and arctic zones They are found throughout Europe, North America and Asia (Plate 1) They become... on conservation and other applied issues such as impacts of non-native bumblebees on the environment This simply reflects my particular interests and also my belief that action is needed; it is probably not going too far to say that if humans are to thrive in the future, and have anything like the standard of living that we in the developed world enjoy today, then we simply have to look after our bumblebees. .. very large size and contain several thousand workers (Michener and Laberge 1954; Michener and Amir 1977; Brian 1983) As many as 2,500 new males and queens can be produced by a single nest of B incarum in Brazil (Dias 1958) In the Brazilian species B atratus, new queens supersede the foundress, and new colonies may be initiated by swarming in the same way as honeybees (Garófalo 1974) Cuckoo bumblebees (subgenus... to act as a heat exchanger, and by insulating air sacs in the abdomen 18 Bumblebees insect that gets hottest during flight The small number of bumblebees that occur in lowland neotropical forests are also largely black, and Williams (2007) suggests that dark colour may aid the radiation of excess heat At moderately high ambient temperatures, large insects such as bumblebees and dragonflies can avoid overheating... my two boys, Finn and Jedd, at ages 7 and 5 already keen hunters of woogermice and bumblebees This page intentionally left blank 1 Introduction Bees (Superfamily Apoidea) belong to the large and exceedingly successful insect order Hymenoptera, which also includes wasps, sawflies and ants There are currently approximately 25,000 known species of bee, belonging to over 4,000 genera, and undoubtedly many... early as May in some species, and so it is perhaps misleading to refer to it as hibernation (although for simplicity the term is retained here) Once the males and young queens have departed, the nest rapidly degenerates The remaining workers are old and become lethargic The foundress is usually worn out and expires Parasites and commensals consume what remains of the comb, and soon very little remains... of B terrestris were found in January and February in Devon (south-west England) (Robertson 1991) More recently, B terrestris appears to have become more or less continuously brooded in the southern half of England; I have observed queens founding nests in December, and workers are seen all winter during warmer weather Recent records collected by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust suggest that the phenomenon... half of England, where the winters are milder This switch to continuous generations may have been favoured by changes in the climate, and by the availability of exotic flowers providing nectar and pollen through the winter The small number of bumblebee species that live within the lowland tropics of south-east Asia and South America have atypical life histories There is no annual cycle, and nests can .