The foraging behavior of a species of bumble bee (Bombus pomorum) that became extinct in the British Isles in the nineteenth century

Abstract

Three species of bumble bee (Bombus spp.) are known to have become extinct in the British Isles. The first of these, Bombus pomorum was last collected (presumed extinct) in 1864. Here, I report the first direct evidence of the foraging behavior of Bombus pomorum from the analysis of pollen preserved on the hairs of the three surviving British museum specimens. The pollen removed from the bees belongs to 11 different plant families including Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Araliaceae, Asteraceae, Campanulaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Fabaceae, Geraniaceae, Lamiaceae, Onagraceae and Pinaceae. The diversity of the pollen taxa indicates that when present in the British Isles, Bombus pomorum adopted a generalized rather than narrow foraging strategy.

Se sabe que tres especies de abejorros (Bombus spp.) se han extinguido en las Islas Británicas. El primero de ellos, Bombus pomorum fue recogido por última vez (presumiblemente extinto) en 1864. Aquí, reporto la primera evidencia directa del comportamiento de pecoreo de Bombus pomorum a partir del análisis del polen que se conserva en el pelo de los tres ejemplares supervivientes del Museo Británico. El polen extraído de las abejas pertenece a 11 familias de plantas diferentes, incluyendo Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Araliaceae, Asteraceae, Campanulaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Fabaceae, Geraniaceae, Lamiaceae, Pinaceae y Onagraceae. La diversidad de los taxones del polen indica que cuando estaba presente en las Islas Británicas, Bombus pomorum adoptó una estrategia de pecoreo más bien generalizada.

Keywords:

• bumble bee
• extinct
• British Isles
• foraging behavior

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Darren Mann and James Hogan of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History for help in obtaining access to the entomological collections from which the pollen samples were obtained. I am also grateful to Steven Falk for enabling me to collect pollen from two specimens of B. pomorum that were on loan from OUMNH and the photograph of B.pomorum, and finally to Peter Long for providing the outline map of the British Isles.