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<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><u>Press release from UC Davis<o:p></o:p></u></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Franklin's bumble bee may be listed as
endangered <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/index.php?action=email&article_id=26269">Email
this article</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Date: 2011-09-13<br>
Contact: Kathy Keatley Garvey<br>
Phone: (530) 754-6894<br>
Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:kegarvey@ucdavis.edu">kegarvey@ucdavis.edu</a> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 2.5in;" width="240"
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<td style="padding: 0.75pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><img id="Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:part1.00010707.08040600@xerces.org"
alt="Robbin Thorp and Franklin's bumble bee "
width="240" border="0" height="151"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0.75pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style=""><strong><span
style="font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";">Robbin
Thorp and Franklin's bumble bee </span></strong><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
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</table>
<p>DAVIS — It's good news for the critically imperiled Franklin's
bumble bee, which <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu/PEOPLE/robbinthorp.html">Robbin
Thorp</a> of the University of California, Davis, has been
tracking since 1998.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>A petition spearheaded by Thorp and the Xerces Society for
Invertebrate Conservation to list Franklin's bumble bee under
the National Endangered Species Act has moved to the next step
in the process, the 12-month review period. This may lead to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listing it as
"endangered" and providing protective status. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The bad news: Thorp hasn't seen Franklin's bumble bee since
2006.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>"I am still hopeful that Franklin's bumble bee is still out
there somewhere," said Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology.
"Over the last 13 years I have watched the populations of this
bumble bee decline precipitously. My hope is this species can
recover before it is too late."<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>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>"My experience with the Western bumble bee <em>(B.
occidentalis)</em> indicates that populations can remain
‘under the radar' for long periods of time when their numbers
are low," he said. Thorp did not see the Western bumble bee
between 2002-08, but now, although sightings are rare, they are
"consistently encountered."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>This year Thorp surveyed the bumble bee's historical sites in
southern Oregon and northern California on five separate trips
of several days each: two in June and one each in July, August
and September. "Flowering and bumble bee phenology were pushed
back about a month this year due to our cold wet spring," he
said. <br>
"I managed to see and photograph workers of <em>B. occidentalis</em>
at two sites on my August trip. I had hoped to see males and
even a Franklin's on my last visit in September but, alas, no
luck. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>"However, flowering was more like mid-August and lots of other
species of worker bumble bees were still foraging," he noted.
"Males and new queens were also on the wing. The new queens will
mate and hibernate to emerge and produce new colonies next year.
The old queens and the rest of this year's colony members will
die out soon, as this season winds to a close."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Thorp and the Xerces Society petitioned USFWS on June 23, 2010,
for endangered status for the bumble bee. Today (Sept. 13) USFWS
announced, "Based on our review, we find that the petition
presents substantial scientific or commercial information
indicating that listing this species may be warranted.
Therefore, with publication of this notice we are initiating a
review of the status of the species to determine if ...
Franklin's bumble bee may warrant protection under the U.S.
Endangered Species Act."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the
world's oldest and largest global environmental network, named
Franklin's bumble bee "Species of the Day" on Oct. 21, 2010.
IUCN placed it on the "Red List of Threatened Species" and
classified it as "critically endangered" and in "imminent danger
of extinction." <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Franklin's bumble bee, mostly black, has distinctive yellow
markings on the front of its thorax and top of its head, Thorp
said. It has a solid black abdomen with just a touch of white at
the tip, and an inverted U-shaped design between its wing bases.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>"This bumble bee is partly at risk because of its very small
range of distribution," he said. "Adverse effects within this
narrow range can have a much greater effect on it than on more
widespread bumble bees."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>If it's given protective status, this could "stimulate research
into the probable causes of its decline," said Thorp, an active
member of the Xerces Society. "This may not only lead to its
recovery, but also help us better understand environmental
threats to pollinators and how to prevent them in future. This
petition also serves as a wake-up call to the importance of
pollinators and the need to provide protections from the various
threats to the health of their populations."<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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Other threats may include pesticides, climate change and
competition with nonnative bees, according to Xerces Society
executive director Scott Hoffman Black. Said Sarina Jepson,
endangered species program director at the Xerces Society:
"Bumble bees play a critical role in ecosystems as pollinators
of wildflowers, as well as many crops. We hope that the service
will ultimately provide Endangered Species Act protection to
this important pollinator." <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>According to a Xerces Society press release, bumble bees are
declining throughout the world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Researchers in Britain and the Netherlands have "noticed a
decline in the abundance of certain plants where multiple bee
species have also declined. For many crops, such as greenhouse
tomatoes, blueberries and cranberries, bumble bees are better
pollinators than honey bees, and some species are produced
commercially for their use in pollination. " <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Last October Thorp received a 2010-11 Edward A. Dickson Emeriti
Professorship Award, from UC Davis to support his research on
the critically imperiled bumble bee. 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="">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="">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 <em><span
style="font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";">B. franklini</span></em>
historical sites.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="">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="">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><br>
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. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The Xerces Society contributed to this news release. See UC
Davis Department of Entomology website for <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/news/franklinbumblebee.html">close-up</a>
of Franklin's bumble bee. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-signature">_____________________________________________________________________
<br>
<b>Sarina Jepsen</b>
<br>
Endangered Species Program Director
<br>
<br>
<b>The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation</b>
<br>
1971 – 2011: Forty Years of Conservation!
<br>
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Toll free: 1-855-232-6639, ext. 112
<br>
Fax: (503) 233-6794
<br>
Cell: (971) 244-3727 <br>
The Xerces Society is an international, nonprofit organization
that protects wildlife <br>
through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.
<br>
<br>
To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our
work, please visit <a href="http://www.xerces.org">www.xerces.org</a>
<br>
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<br>
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