frigid bumble bee

Bombus frigidus have a yellow thorax and T1–T2. T1–T5 refers to the dorsal abdomen of the bee with T1 being closer to the thorax-abdomen division. A black band is present between the wings (the band may not be there for some males). The T4–T5 are orange or yellow. The hair of the face is black for females (can be black or yellow for males). The corbicular fringe (pollen sack near the back of the bee) is pale orange. The hair length is long, and the males are roughly half the size of the queen. The hair on the legs for both sexes is black.

Bombus frigidus is a rare bee that is found from Alaska to the eastern shore of Canada, and as far south as Colorado. There have been erroneous reports of the bee being spotted in California, Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. These arctic bees live in cold, high latitude or altitude areas. Their colonies are formed either in small burrows or on the ground. Despite being rare, their populations are not decreasing like other bumblebees, and they are considered of "Least Concern" in terms of conservation status.

Bombus frigidus differs from most bumblebees mating behavior in length of copulation time. These bees take approximately ten minutes to copulate, which is significantly shorter than the thirty to eighty minutes of other bees. The male will place a scent on prominent objects and will fly on a route until he finds a mate. The pheromone is produced by a pair of glands in the labial gland. The male will grab onto the females thorax to get into position. The queen will then move her stinger aside if she wants to copulate with him. After the sperm has been transferred, the male will secrete a sticky mixture into the female. When the mixture has hardened, other males won't be able to copulate with the female. This increases the chance that this particular male's genes will be passed on. Once the male has mated, he will die shortly thereafter.

To increase pollination and production of the lowbush blueberry plant in Newfoundland, Canada, non-native bee species have been imported. Since these bees are not from the area and are farm raised, they are infected by diseases and parasites that the native bees don't have a defense against. This has caused a decline in all Bombus species in the area and unfortunately, many of the indigenous plants rely on these native species for pollination. With the decrease in natural pollinators, these plants may end up being replaced by plants that are favored by the imported bees. This change in plant life may in turn decrease the diversity of birds and mammals.

== References ==