BUMBLE BEES IN IRELAND

1. BUMBLE BEES IN IRELAND Andrew Byrne National Biodiversity Data Centre

2. Bees of the World • Bees are hymenoptera, top 3 biggest insect groups • 19,500 bee species described (Ascher et al., 2008) • Bumblebees – 267 species world wide described... (Williams, 1998; 2009). • All bumblebees live in the northern hemisphere*, and are adapted to cooler climates (Williams, 1995; 2009). *a few species are found in mountains in South America

3. Bees value • Economically, animal pollination services have been valued at $65–75 billion globally (Pimentel et al., 1997) • Honeybee pollination alone in the United States was evaluated at $14.6 billion in 2000 (Morse and Calderone, 2000). • 70% of angiosperm plants being insect pollinated (Schoonhoven et al., 1998) • Keystone species in ecosystems, thus bee loss or decline can result in reduced fruit and seed-set in plants and can lead to disruption of plant-pollinator networks leading to possible extinction cascades (Steffan- Dewenter and Tscharntke, 1999; Waser and Ollerton, 2006) See: Byrne and Fitzpatrick, 2009

4. Bees value Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996

5. Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996

6. Sunday Times, Feb. 2009

7. Sunday Times, Feb. 2009

8. Life as a bumblebee • How many species there are in Ireland • Crash course in bumblebee identification • Species threatened with extinction in Ireland • How to catch a bumblebee in order to identify it • What we know about bumblebees in Ireland • How to record bumblebees • Useful resources

9. Where they live? What is their life cycle? What do they eat? How do you tell males from females? Life as a bumblebee... Photo: U. Fitzpatrick

10. Where they live? What is their life cycle? What do they eat? How do you tell males from females? Life as a bumblebee... Forage and find a nest Queen prepares a pollen loaf and a nectar pot and starts laying eggs Queen emerges in early spring New queen goes into hibernation. Males and the old nest die off in the autumn/winter Workers emerge and take over nest duties Queen remains in the nest laying eggs New queens and males leave the nest and mate In mid-late summer the queen lays eggs which will become males and new queens

11. How many species are there in Ireland? 6 cuckoo bumblebees 14 true bumblebees

12. Where they live? What is their life cycle? What do they eat? How do you tell males from females? Life as a bumblebee... Forage and find a nest Queen prepares a pollen loaf and a nectar pot and starts laying eggs Queen emerges in early spring New queen goes into hibernation. Males and the old nest die off in the autumn/winter Workers emerge and take over nest duties New queens and males leave the nest and mate Queen remains in the nest laying eggs In mid-late summer the queen lays eggs which will become males and new queens

13. How many species are there in Ireland? 6 cuckoo bumblebees 14 true bumblebees

14. How many species are common in Ireland? Common: 6 species Bombus lucorum (B. magnus & B. cryptarum) Bombus terrestris Bombus pratorum Bombus hortorum Bombus jonellus Bombus pascuorum Widespread but not common: 2 species Bombus muscorum Bombus lapidarius Restricted geographic range: Bombus monticola Rare – national conservation priorities: Bombus distinguendus Bombus ruderarius Bombus sylvarum

15. TRUE BUMBLEBEE IDENTIFICATION IN IRELAND:

16. TRUE BUMBLEBEE IDENTIFICATION IN IRELAND: White tailed: 4* species Red tailed: 5 species Ginger tailed: 1 species Blond tailed: 2 species http://www.nhm.ac.uk

17. www.artdata.slu.se White tailed – 4* species (all common) John Breen B. hortorum B. jonellus B. lucorum B. terrestris

18. Red tailed – 5 species 1 species 4 species www.knnv.nl B. monticola – the mountain bumblebee

19. 4 species John Breen B. lapidarius B. pratorum B. sylvarum John Breen B. ruderarius

20. Ginger tailed – 1 species (common) B. pascuorum

21. Blond tailed – 2 species B. muscorum B. distinguendus

22. Identification issues to watch out for: Bombus magnus queen Bombus cryptarum queen Bombus lucorum queen

24. Fitzpatrick, Murray, Byrne et al., 2006

25. Rare bumblebees in Ireland Grey: pre 1980; red: 1980 onwards

26. How do you catch a bumblebee in order to identify it?

27. How much do we know about bumblebees in Ireland? x ü Some idea of the distribution of the common species Some idea of the distribution of the widespread but uncommon species Good knowledge of the distribution of B. monticola Know why the rare species are declining Know very little about the current distribution of the cuckoo bumblebees or why they are declining Don’t know enough about how many populations of the rare species remain and where they are Fitzpatrick, Murray, Byrne et al., 2006

28. How do you record bumblebees and what should you do with your bumblebee records?

29. USEFUL RESOURCES:

32. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/bombus/key_british_colour_info.htmlhttp://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/bombus/key_british_colour_info.html

33. www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk

35. Alford, D. V. (1975). Bumblebees. Davis-Poynter Ltd. Benton, T. (2000). The Bumblebees of Essex. Lopinga Books. Benton, T (2006). Bumblebees. Collins. Edwards, M. & Jenner, M. (2005) Field Guide to the Bumblebees of great Britain & Ireland. Ocelli Ltd. Goulson, D. (2003). Bumblebees: Their behaviour and ecology. Oxford University Press. Macdonald, M, (2003). Bumblebees. Scottish Natural Heritage. Matheson, Andrew (Ed.). (1996). Bumble bees for pleasure and profit. International Bee Research Association. O'Toole, Christopher. (2002). Bumblebees. Osmia Publications, Banbury, England. Pinchen, Bryan J. (2006). A pocket Guide to the Bumblebees of Britain and Ireland. Forficula Books. Prys-Jones, O. E. and Corbet, S. A. (1987, 1991). Bumblebees. Cambridge University Press. Sladen, F. W. L. (1912, 1989). The humble-bee. Macmillian and Co. Ltd.

36. Byrne, 2009