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

• DOI: 10.3897/bdj.7.e30953
• Publication Date: 2019-01-10T08:44:10Z
• Authors: Kirsten Palmier; Cory Sheffield
• Keywords: 0106 biological sciences; Insecta; pollination; Arthropoda; QH301-705.5; Kulbastavia; Pseudaugochlora; Hymenopterida; Nephrozoa; Protostomia; Basal; Apidae; Carbotriplurida; Circumscriptional names of the taxon under; 01 natural sciences; Animalia; Bilateria; Eumetabola; Single Taxon Treatment; Biology (General); COSEWIC; Prairies; Pterygota; pathogen s; Bombus impatiens; conservation; Cephalornis; non-native species; 15. Life on land; Strashila incredibilis; Melecta luctuosa; Hymenoptera; Circumscriptional names; Bombus; species at risk; Boltonocostidae; Tiphiinae; Notchia; Circumscriptional name; Ecdysozoa; Exebotrigona; Bombini; pathogen spillover; Apoidea; Coelenterata

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.