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Bombus vosnesenskii Radoszkowski, 1862
Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee
Family: Apidae
Introduction to the Hymenoptera of British Columbia
Introduction to the Bumblebees of BC

Photograph

© Brian Klinkenberg     (Photo ID #14075)

Map

E-Fauna BC Static Map

Distribution of Bombus vosnesenskii in British Columbia in British Columbia

Introduction


The Yellow-faced Bumble Bee is found in the Pacific Coast states (Washington, Oregon, western Nevada, California, and northern Baja,California) (Thorp et al. 1983), and was reported in BC by Buckell (1951) from the Thompson-Okanagan (Cannings pers. comm. 2011). It has recently (since 2000) been observed throughout the Lower Mainland (pers. obs. Klinkenberg; Tommasi et al. 2004) and on Vancouver Island, where it is established (Cannings, pers. comm. 2011, Fraser et al. in prep.) and may be expanding its range (Thorp pers. comm. 2011). It was tested as a greenhouse pollinator in BC (Dogterom et al 1998), which may have assisted this range expansion (Fraser et al. in prep.).

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS5YellowNot Listed



BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer--the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Species References

Buckell, E. R. 1951. Records of Bees from British Columbia: Bombidae. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of British Columbia 47: 7-23. Cannings, Robert. 2011. Curator of Insects, Royal BC Museum. E-mails.

Dogterom, M. H., J. A. Matteoni, and R. C. Plowright. 1998. Pollination of greenhouse tomatoes by the western North American Bombus vosnesenskii (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 91:71-75.

Fraser, D.F. Cannings, R.A. and C. Copley. in prep. Changes in Status and Distribution of the Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (Bombus vosesneskii) in British Columbia.

Thorp, Robbin. 2011. Professor Emiritus, Department of Entomology, University of California. E-mails.

Thorp, Robbin W., Donald S. Horning, Jr. and Lorry L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble Bees and Cuckoo Bees of California (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 23. Available online.

Tommasi, D., H. A. Higo, and M. L. Winston. 2004. Bee diversity and abundance in an urban setting. Canadian Entomologist 136:851-869.

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