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<p class=MsoNormal>Good news for Franklin's bumble bee <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Date: 2010-10-21<br>
Contact: Kathy Keatley Garvey<br>
Phone: <span class=skypepnhprintcontainer>(530) 754-6894</span><br>
Email: <a href="mailto:kegarvey@ucdavis.edu">kegarvey@ucdavis.edu</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
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src="cid:image001.jpg@01CB7853.2C212720" align=right hspace=5 vspace=5
alt=" Robbin Thorp and Franklin's bumble bee" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2"><![endif]>DAVIS
— It's good news for Franklin's bumble bee. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Native pollinator specialist <a
href="http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu/PEOPLE/robbinthorp.html">Robbin Thorp</a>, who
has been monitoring the elusive Franklin's bumble bee since 1998, is the
recipient of a 2010-11 Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship Award,
University of California, Davis, to support his research on the critically
imperiled bumble bee. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>And today (Oct. 21) the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) of Gland, Switzerland, the world's oldest and largest global
environmental network, named the insect "<a
href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/sotdfiles/bombus-franklini.pdf">Species of the
Day."</a> The bumble bee, on the IUCN "Red List of Threatened
Species," is classified as "critically endangered." <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Thorp, a UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology, retired in 1994 but
continues his research on native pollinators and pollinator decline. He is a
noted expert on bumble bees. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The award memorializes a University of California regent who served longer
than any other regent, from 1913 to 1946. In 1955, Dickson bequeathed an
endowment to support and maintain special annual professorships to be awarded
to retired academic senate faculty members. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Thorp researches the declining population of Franklin's bumble bee, <em>Bombus
franklini</em> (Frison), found only in a narrow range of southern Oregon and
northern California. Its range, a 13,300-square-mile area confined to Siskiyou
and Trinity counties in California; and Jackson, Douglas and Josephine counties
in Oregon, is thought to be the smallest of any other bumble bee in North
America and the world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Named in 1921 for Henry J. Franklin, who monographed the bumble bees of
North and South America in 1912-13, Franklin's bumble bee frequents California
poppies, lupines, vetch, wild roses, blackberries, clover, sweet peas,
horsemint and mountain penny royal during its flight season, from mid-May
through September. It collects pollen primarily from lupines and poppies and
gathers nectar mainly from mints. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Thorp's surveys, conducted since 1998 clearly show the declining population.
Sightings decreased from 94 in 1998 to 20 in 1999 to 9 in 2000 to one in 2001.
Sightings increased slightly to 20 in 2002, but dropped to three in 2003. Thorp
saw none in 2004 and 2005; one in 2006; and none since. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Thorp hypothesizes that the decline of the subgenus <em>Bombus</em>
(including <em>B. franklini</em> and its closely related <em>B. occidentalis</em>,
and two eastern species <em>B. affinis</em> and <em>B. terricola</em>) is
linked to an exotic disease (or diseases) associated with the trafficking of
commercially produced bumble bees for pollination of greenhouse tomatoes.
Collaborators at the University of Illinois are testing that hypothesis. Since
2005, Thorp has collected numerous samples of bumble bees in Oregon, California
and Arizona in cooperation with this study.<br>
<br>
Thorp said he hopes that Franklin's bumble bee will show the same signs of
recovery as B. occidentais. In 2008, he found <em>B. occidentalis</em> on Mt.
Ashland and in 2009, spotted it at both Mount Ashland and Grizzly Peak.
"This suggests the recovery of this species within the historic range of
Franklin's bumble bee," he said. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>On June 23, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Thorp
petitioned the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide an emergency
listing of Franklin's bumble bee under the National Endangered Species Act. The
decision may take six months or more.The objectives of Thorp's research, funded
by the Dickson grant, are to: <o:p></o:p></p>
<ol start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Collect bumble bees for disease studies at the
University of Illinois with emphasis on <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B.
franklini</span></em> (where and when appropriate so as not to hinder
population recovery) and <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B.
occidentalis</span></em> and potential reservoir species known to co-occur
with them, all within the historic range of <em><span style='font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B. franklini</span></em>.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Survey for <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B.
franklini</span></em> and <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B.
occidentalis</span></em> with emphasis on B. franklini historical sites.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Include observations on population abundance of
other species of bumble bees at monitoring sites for comparison with the
two target species.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Monitor floral visitation and track any
individuals of <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B.
franklini</span></em> and/or <em><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>B.
occidentalis</span></em> to determine their foraging behavior, subset of
overall habitat used, nest site locations, and acceptance of trap-nest
boxes. <o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thorp, a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, teaches "The Bee
Course" every summer for the American Museum of Natural History of New
York at its field station in Arizona. He chairs the Advisory Committee for the
Jepson Prairie Reserve, a vernal pool ecosystem located near Dixon, and is the
newly elected president of the Davis Botanical Society. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>*************************<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Scott
Hoffman Black<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Executive
Director<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Chair<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>IUCN
(International Union for Conservation of Nature) Butterfly <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Specialist
Group<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>4828
SE Hawthorne<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Portland,
OR 97215<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Direct
line (503) 449-3792<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><a
href="https://webmail.integra.net/src/compose.php?send_to=sblack%40xerces.org"><span
style='color:blue'>sblack@xerces.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The
Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization that <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>protects
wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>To
join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>please
visit <<a href="http://www.xerces.org/" target="_blank"><span
style='color:blue'>http://www.xerces.org/</span></a>>www.xerces.org.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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