Photo By/Credit
USFWS
Date Shot/Created
05/21/2023Media Usage Rights/License
Public Domain
Image
ESA 50th Facebook post about the rusty patched bumble bee, using the art produced by USFWS employee Cal Robinson.
Text: The rusty patched bumble bee is the first bumble bee listed as endangered and the first bee listed in the continental United States. All rusty patched bumble bees have entirely black heads, but only workers and males have a rusty patch on their backs. The queens produce female bees all summer. Only in late summer do they produce males and new queens.
Bumble bees are great pollinators because they “buzz pollinate.” They are able to produce vibrations to loosen hard-to-get pollen, resulting in an explosion of pollen that provides food for the bee but also boosts pollination. They're also important pollinators of crops including blueberries, cranberries and clover.
Did you know: Bumble bees, including the rusty patched, make up the predominate group of insects that pollinate tomatoes? Learn more below.
Art by Cal Robinson/USFWS #ESA50
Text: The rusty patched bumble bee is the first bumble bee listed as endangered and the first bee listed in the continental United States. All rusty patched bumble bees have entirely black heads, but only workers and males have a rusty patch on their backs. The queens produce female bees all summer. Only in late summer do they produce males and new queens.
Bumble bees are great pollinators because they “buzz pollinate.” They are able to produce vibrations to loosen hard-to-get pollen, resulting in an explosion of pollen that provides food for the bee but also boosts pollination. They're also important pollinators of crops including blueberries, cranberries and clover.
Did you know: Bumble bees, including the rusty patched, make up the predominate group of insects that pollinate tomatoes? Learn more below.
Art by Cal Robinson/USFWS #ESA50
Species