Abstract Bumblebees (genus Bombus ) have received increased academic and conservation attention with the recognition of a global pollinator crisis. However, subgenus Psithyrus (cuckoo bumblebees), has been overlooked. species parasitise social are frequently viewed as being detrimental to their hosts. This lack attention, combined taxon’s relatively low abundances enhanced vulnerability climate...

Bifidobacteria are one of the most important beneficial bacteria in the gut of mammals and insects. We sequenced the genome of B. actinocoloniiforme DSM 22766, which was isolated from the digestive tracts of bumblebees. The genome contains 1,548 protein-coding genes, 49 RNAs and two CRISPR repeats.

Introduction Consequences of declines in bumblebee populations Causes of bumblebee declines Reductions in floral resources Loss of nest sites Pesticides Impacts of non-native bees Habitat fragmentation and population structure Why do some bumblebee species remain common? Conserving bumblebees Enhancing bumblebee diversity in farmland The importance of urban areas Conclusions Summary Points Unre...

The fibrillar muscles of bumblebees may be used to drive the wings during flight and during fanning for nest-temperature regulation (Hasselrot, i960), to produce buzzing sounds, to vibrate the substrate during pollen collecting (Michener, 1962), and to generate heat prior to flight or during the incubation of brood (Heinrich, 1972 b). During fanning, buzzing and the production of other vibratio...

We examined the effect of learning a new task on the performance of a previously learned task with the same set of visual cues in bumblebees, Bombus impatiens. Previous studies have shown that given a binary choice at each task, bumblebees do not show retroactive interference, or mistakes in the first task, if the two tasks are in different contexts, feeding and nest location. Here we tested wh...

Declining populations of bee pollinators are a cause of concern, with major repercussions for biodiversity loss and food security. RNA viruses associated with honeybees represent a potential threat to other insect pollinators, but the extent of this threat is poorly understood. This study aims to attain a detailed understanding of the current and ongoing risk of emerging infectious disease (EID...