This Bumblebee Once Flourished In New Jersey, Now It’s Endangered

As recently as 20 years ago, the rusty patched bumblebee was a common sight across New Jersey. But on Jan. 11, the insect - now teetering on the brink of extinction – gained the unwanted distinction of becoming the first bumblebee to appear on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) endangered species list.

The rusty patched bumblebee – an important pollinator that gets its name from a small rust-colored patch on the middle of its abdomen - is also the first bee of any kind in the contiguous 48 states to be declared endangered, according to the USFWS.

“Why is this important?” asked USFWS Midwest Regional Director Tom Melius. “Pollinators are small but mighty parts of the natural mechanism that sustains us and our world. Without them, our forests, parks, meadows and shrublands - and the abundant, vibrant life they support -cannot survive, and our crops require laborious, costly pollination by hand.”

“Our top priority is to act quickly to prevent extinction of the rusty patched bumble bee,” Melius stated. “Listing the bee as endangered will help us mobilize partners and focus resources on finding ways right now to stop the decline.”

Read the USFWS listing rule here.

As recently as the mid- to late-1990s, the species was abundant and wide-spread, with hundreds of populations across 28 states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But since 2000, the bee has been missing from New Jersey and has seen its population plummet by 87 percent, the USFWS said.

Delaware County, PA, is the only location in either Pennsylvania or New Jersey believed to have a rusty patched bumblebee population, according to PhillyVoice.com.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation – which petitioned to list the rusty patched bumble bee under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2013 – called federal officials’ decision a “huge victory” for bumble bee conservation.

“The rusty-patched bumble bee was once an excellent pollinator of wildflowers, cranberries, and other important crops, including plum, apple, alfalfa and onion seed,” the Xerces Society wrote. “Once widespread, [the species] has precipitously declined from 9/10ths of its range.”

According to the Xerces Society, there are a number of threats facing the rusty patched bumblebee, many of which also affect the other 46 bumble bee species found in North America.

Major threats include:

• Spread of pests and diseases by the commercial bumble bee industry
• Other pests and diseases
• Habitat destruction or alteration
• Pesticides
• Invasive species
• Natural pest or predator population cycles
• Climate change

“The more I interact with the public, the more I realize that so many people care about the plight of the rusty patched bumble bee and want to help,” endangered species conservation biologist Rich Hatfield wrote. “But for many the barrier is not knowing what to do.”

The federal protections that this listing will bring will help, Hatfield wrote, but the creation of habitat will be essential to this species survival and hopeful recovery.

According to Hatfield, the rusty patched bumblebee needs three things, all of which New Jersey residents can help to provide in their backyards:

• Flowers upon which to forage from early spring through fall
• A safe place to build their nest and overwinter
• A pesticide-free environment, also protected from the pressures of introduced diseases from commercial bees
• Report any rusty patched bumblebee sightings here

Find more information about the rusty patched bumblebee here.

Photo: Rusty patched bumble bee, courtesy of Christy Stewart / FWS.gov

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com