Bombus terrestris

Taxobox
name = "Bombus terrestris"

---

image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Apidae
subfamilia = Apinae
genus = "Bombus"
species = "B. terrestris"
binomial = "Bombus terrestris"
binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

"Bombus terrestris", the "buff-tailed bumblebee" or "large earth bumblebee" is one of the most numerous bumblebee species in Europe. They are characterized by their white-ended abdomens. The queen is 2–2.7 cm long, while the workers are 1½–2 cm.

Such bees can navigate their way back to the nest from a distance as far away as convert|13|km|mi|abbr=off. [cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5215022.stm |title=Homing instinct of bees surprises |publisher=BBC News |date=2006-07-26 |author=Louisa Cheung]

Life Cycle

The first bumblebees to be seen in spring are the queens – the queen is the only bumblebee to hibernate through the winter. The queen is much bigger than the workers, which appear later. As soon as the queen has found some nectar, to replenish her energy reserves, she starts looking for a suitable site to build her nest.

The nest site is usually underground; an abandoned mouse burrow is often used. Inside, the queen first builds a nectar pot, which will sustain her during bad weather. She also begins to build up a pollen larder, which will feed her brood.

The queen then lays a small batch of eggs. Once these hatch she tends the larvae, feeding them with nectar and pollen. When the larvae are grown they pupate, and about 2 weeks later the first worker bumblebees emerge. These workers will forage for nectar and pollen for the colony, and tend later generations of larvae. The queen can now concentrate on egg laying and does not need to leave the nest again. The workers are smaller than the queen, and will only live for a few weeks. The foraging range and frequency of workers depends on the quality and distribution of available forage but most workers forage within a few hundred metres of their nest. [cite journal
author = Stephan Wolf and Robin F.A. Moritz
title = Foraging distance in Bombus terrestris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)
journal = Apidologie
volume = 39
issue = 4
pages = 419–427
publisher = EDP Sciences
date = 2008-06-25
url = http://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/abs/2008/04/m07103/m07103.html
doi = 10.1051
accessdate = 2008-07-26 ]

Towards the end of summer the queen lays some unfertilised eggs which develop into male bees. Some eggs are also laid which receive extra food and pupate to become new queens. When the males emerge from the nest they do not return, foraging only for themselves. They seek out the new queens and mate with them.

"B. terrestris" is thought to be a mainly singly-mating species. This is unusual for social insect queens where mating with several males (polyandry) has been shown to have several benefits. The lack of multiple mating by "B. terrestris" queens may be caused by male interference in the process. "B. terrestris" males plug the female's sexual tract with a sticky secretion during mating which appears to temporarily reduce the female's ability to successfully mate with other males for several days. [Males of Social Insects Can Prevent Queens from Multiple Mating Annette Sauter, Mark J. F. Brown, Boris Baer and Paul Schmid-Hempel Proceedings: Biological Sciences, Vol. 268, No. 1475 (Jul. 22, 2001), pp. 1449-1454]

When the autumn cold weather sets in, all but the young queens will die. The latter seek out a safe place to hibernate, they are the only ones to survive the winter.

References