Weird Bombus male

[Miriam R Edelkind-Vealey]

Hi Beeple!

 

I came across a weird male bumble bee from a blue vane trap sample in Georgia. In the face, I would guess B. bimaculatus. Malar space and ocelli placement are consistent with B. bimaculatus. However, the tergal hair coloration is strange. The first 2 segments are yellow, the third segment is organge-red, the fourth is yellow, and the rest are black. I’ve attached some pictures of the bee, and I would be happy to send more. Any ID suggestions?

 

Thank you,

Miriam

 

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Miriam Edelkind-Vealey (she/her)

PhD Graduate Research Assistant

Department of Entomology

University of Georgia

miriam....@uga.edu

 

[Roulston, T'ai H (thr8z)]

Miriam,

If the structural traits fit, then you are probably right about B. bimaculatus. I have a B. bimaculatus queen with the second and third abdominal segments that orange-red color and then the rest black. I’ve seen that same orange-red color (I’ll leave it to participants in the prior discussion to place it on the Munsell Color chart) in various configurations on B. impatiens before. Probably some common genetic mutation or epigenetic phenomenon that happens with bumble bees. If the color shift has been studied, I bet someone on this list knows why that color comes up across species that don’t typically have it.

T'ai Roulston

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[Miriam R Edelkind-Vealey]

Hi T’ai,

 

Thank you for your insight! I believe it is a B. bimaculatus but with some funky coloration.

 

Thank you,

Miriam

 

-- 

Miriam Edelkind-Vealey (she/her)

PhD Graduate Research Assistant

Department of Entomology

University of Georgia

miriam....@uga.edu

 

 

From: Roulston, T'ai H (thr8z) <th...@virginia.edu>
Date: Friday, November 10, 2023 at 11:12 AM
To: Miriam R Edelkind-Vealey <miriam....@uga.edu>
Cc: beemonitoring <beemon...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Beemonitoring] Weird Bombus male

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[Molly Jacobson]

Once I found a Bombus bimaculatus male with abnormal red coloration on T2-3 as well. 

https://bugguide.net/node/view/1763942

Super fascinating phenomenon.

Cheers,

Molly Jacobson

------------------

Molly Jacobson

M.S. Conservation Biology

Native Pollinator Ecologist

SUNY-ESF Restoration Science Center

Illick 255 | mmja...@esf.edu

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From: beemon...@googlegroups.com <beemon...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Miriam R Edelkind-Vealey <miriam....@uga.edu>
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To: Roulston, T'ai H (thr8z) <th...@virginia.edu>

Cc: beemonitoring <beemon...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Beemonitoring] Weird Bombus male

 

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[Leif Richardson]

Hi Miriam,

I agree, that's an odd one for Georgia. It looks like a Pyrobombus to me, but I can't help beyond this. That said, there is a record of a putative Bombus ternarius from north Georgia in the Smithsonian collections, and your bee's coloration is similar to that species. The site and some others nearby are upper elevation balds where a number of the northern/montane species found along the Appalachian spine reach the southern extreme of their ranges. (There is also this potential B. borealis from one of these balds--a species not otherwise reported for GA, so far as I know.) These could of course be bees with bad label data. In any case, I would be interested in any insight the community may have on this situation.

Leif

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Leif Richardson

Conservation Biologist

Riverside, California

(802) 793-6449

[August Jackson]

Hi Miriam,

If you dissect the genital capsule, the penis valve head will be broader in B. bimaculatus (similar to this photo of B. melanopygus), and more narrow and spinelike in B. ternarius (similar to this photo of B. vosnesenskii). Apologies if you're receiving this twice! I got a bounce notice due to the originally attached photos being too large.

Best,

-August

On Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 5:36 AM Miriam R Edelkind-Vealey <miriam....@uga.edu> wrote:

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[Cory Sheffield]

Hi all, 

The ternarius males I have seen have each of the flagellomeres of the antennae concave on one side, giving an overall “wavy“ appearance that is pretty distinctive, not straight and cylindrical as it seems in the photo.

Cheers 

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