First records of the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Bombus impatiens Cresson (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Apinae, Bombini) from the Prairies Ecozone in Canada

By

Palmier, Kirsten
Sheffield, Cory S

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-01-10

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

7

Pages

1--18

Subjects

Conservation , COSEWIC , non-native species , pathogen spillover , Pollination , Prairies , species at risk

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e30953
eLocator: e30953

 

Abstract

In Canada, the Common Eastern Bumble Bee (BombusimpatiensCresson) is native to southern Ontario and Quebec, but since being developed as a managed commercial pollinator, it has been exported to several other provinces for use in greenhouse and field crop settings. This has enabled this species to become established outside its natural range and it is now established in eastern Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island) and British Columbia. To date, the species has not been detected via field capture in the prairie provinces.Here we report on recent captures ofB.impatiensworkers and males from south-eastern Alberta and suggest that these specimens escaped from nearby commercial greenhouses. The risk that the presence and looming establishment of this species has on native bumble bees in the Canadian prairies is discussed.