Bombus Hypnorum
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The tree bumblebee or new garden bumblebee (''Bombus hypnorum'') is a species of
bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...
common nthe
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an continent and parts of
Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
. Since the start of the twenty-first century, it has spread to
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
and
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. These bumblebees prefer habitats that others do not, allowing them to pollinate flowers in areas that many other species do not get to.


Description

''Bombus hypnorum'' has a short
proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...
and a rounded head. The
thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...
is usually of a uniformly ginger color (but examples with a darker, or even black thorax occur), the
abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...
is covered in black hair, and the tail is always white. In workers, the first
tergite A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; : ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the Anatomical terms of location#Dorsal and ventral, dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The Anatomical terms of location#Anterior ...
(abdominal segment) is black-haired, but a proportion of males may have ginger hairs intermixed with the black hair, both on the face and on the first abdominal
tergum A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; : ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton wi ...
. On the European continent, individuals with extended yellow coloration exist. Workers are often (but not always) small, while drones are much bigger in comparison. The queens vary in size.


Taxonomy and phylogeny

''Bombus hypnorum'' is part of the genus ''
Bombus A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...
''. Its closest genetic relatives are '' B. jonellus'' and '' B. sichelli''.


Distribution

''B. hypnorum'' is a common bumblebee species in continental Europe and northern Asia, from northern
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
to
Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...
in the east, and from the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
to the mountains in northern Europe. In the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
it is found in northwestern
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. It is not found, though, in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, or the steppes of eastern Europe, only in the mountains of the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
and not south of
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The bumblebee was first observed in
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
on 17 July 2001 close to the village of
Landford Landford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the south and east of the parish is the county of Hampshire and the New Forest National Park. The parish includes the small villa ...
in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
and has since been spreading widely. In August 2008, ''B. hypnorum'' was found in
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, and new queens have been found each year since. It is likely that it will continue to stay in Iceland and prosper in close living with humans near dense settlements, such as
Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
, but will most probably not venture into the more rural and colder parts of Iceland. In the U.K., it has now spread from England up to the north of Scotland and Wales. It reached
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in 2017.


Habitat

This bumblebee often lives near human settlements. It prefers to build its nest above ground and often inhabits bird boxes. ''B. hypnorum'' likes to live in forests, but in places where there are not as many trees, it favours human dwellings. It likes to live in holes and walls in the trees unlike other members of the ''Bombus'' genus. ''B. hypnorum'' does not stay in areas where there is a high amount of
rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus'' subsp. ''napus''), also known as rape and oilseed rape and canola, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturall ...
cover.


Nest

The nest is quite large, with 150 workers or more (according to some authorities up to 400). This species stores pollen in separate cells, and feeds each larva individually. It visits an enormous range of flowering plants such as ''
Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
'',
cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
, grape hyacinth and, in the north,
blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...
and ''
Vaccinium ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (wh ...
''. It is also an important visitor to raspberry (''
Rubus idaeus ''Rubus idaeus'' (raspberry, also called red raspberry or occasionally European red raspberry to distinguish it from other raspberry species) is a red-fruited species of ''Rubus'' native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in oth ...
'') and bramble (''
Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' (part of the rose family). The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosu ...
'' agg.).


Nest usurpation

There have been dead queens around colonies that are established, so this may have been a result of one queen usurping another colony and keeping some of the workers of the original colony.


Colony cycle

The tree bumblebee has a short breeding cycle. Nests are begun by single queens in March. These queens produce a brood of workers, then queens and males. The first cycle is completed from mid-May to early July (depending on the season). A smaller second generation is produced in late summer in favorable years. Larger colonies have heavier queens.


Colony life

Development of larvae into a queen or a worker is determined by the amount of food that was given to them. Workers have a shorter development time than the queens. The queens have a higher amount of juvenile hormone than the workers as larvae.


Caste system

Compared to ''Bombus terrestris'', ''B. hypnorum'' has a weaker caste system in addition to a smaller overall colony. An important determinant in caste hierarchy is how much food the larvae receive during their development. When they are older, they are seen to organize themselves by using the information they obtain from cues in odor pattern and arrange themselves into groups this way.


Worker groups

There are three worker groups in the colony. They are dominant workers, subordinate workers, and foragers. Dominant workers are aggressive towards other workers by attacking and sometimes even biting others. They can show this dominance without fighting by giving off a certain odor that is similar to the queen's.


Breeding

Queens in this species can be
polyandrous Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives ...
. Multiple mating is not common in bumblebees. In this species it is related to short matings, possibly with little sperm transferred. Because of multiple mating, sisters in a colony may have different fathers.


Behaviour


Mating behaviour

There are two parts to mating: approach and copulation. First there is the approach part where the male checks out the female. The male would approach a queen and then hover in the air for a few seconds using his antennae to inspect the female. If this male is the same species, then he will land and continue inspection using his antennae. The male mounts her by using his front legs on her abdomen and then mounts from the rear. Then he attempts to copulate with her. Females have a mandibular gland that releases a
pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
that the males react to so that they will know of their receptiveness. Males use their legs to tap on the abdomen of the female for a few seconds in ten second intervals. Males of ''B. hypnorum'' copulate for about 20-40 min.


Mating frequency and duration

Females in this species are unlike other species where they usually only mate once. ''B. hypnorum'' can mate 2-3 times in their lifetime; however, this is not always the case. It has been observed that a female can mate up to 6 times. When looking at the second mating, it does not seem to be shorter or longer than the first mating, but they are usually shorter than the females that have mated only once in their lifetime. This can be due to the fact that the mating plugs disappear relatively quickly, in 6–12 hours. However observed matings may not be the same as actual sperm transfer, though from this also, it is clear that multiple mating occurs in this species.


Conflict


Queen–worker conflict

Social bees are of the order
Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...
. The female workers are more genetically related to each other than to their brothers because males are haploid, giving an identical set of chromosomes to their daughters.


Worker–worker conflict

There seems to be a hierarchy around the egg-laying workers in the nest. While the queen was alive, this bee would eat any other workers that were laying eggs in the nest. If this worker dies, the next in the hierarchy would start up this act as well and at the same time defend her own eggs.


Genetic relatedness within colonies

The relatedness from sister to sister is 75% and from sister to brother is 25%. This is because females are
diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...
and males are unfertilized
haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell (biology), cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for Autosome, autosomal and Pseudoautosomal region, pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the num ...
. The Queen has equal genetic relatedness to both her sons and daughters so she wants to lay an equal ratio of children. Since ''B. hypnorum'' also can mate with more than one male, then the colony has groups of related females. In these colonies, the queen has sex ratio control so the offspring are equally male and female.


Interactions

They maintain a symbiotic relationship with
phoretic Phoresis or phoresy is a temporary Commensalism, commensalistic relationship when an organism (a phoront or phoretic) attaches itself to a host organism solely for travel. It has been seen in tick, ticks and mite, mites since the 18th century, ...
mites Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...
, which they transport, and which probably feed on mushrooms or nest parasites.


Social parasite

'' B. norvegicus'' (Norwegian Cuckoo Bumblebee) is a social parasite that affects ''B. hypnorum''. '' B. norvegicus'' can produce a repellant to combat defending workers. This is very strong on ''B. hypnorum'' workers that have not had food yet. The biggest component of this repellant, dodecyl acetate, together with other compounds, repels ''B. hypnorum'' which makes ''B. hypnorum'' take longer to get to food and slower to get there. This makes it harder for ''B. hypnorum'' to defend nest usurpation in their nests.


Diet

''B. hypnorum'' has the biggest preference for the flowering trees ''Crateagus monogyna'' and ''
Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in B ...
'' compared to other types of bumble bees. Also compared to other bees, ''B. hypnorum'' has less of a preference for ''Brassica naptus'', ''
Glechoma hederacea ''Glechoma hederacea'' is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground,Connecticut Invasive Plant List', Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, January ...
'' and ''
Lamium album ''Lamium album'', commonly called white dead-nettle, is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native throughout Europe and Asia, growing in a variety of habitats from open grassland to woodland, generally on moist, fertile soils. Desc ...
''.


Olfactory senses

Workers and males have similar responses to chemical stimuli; however, the males are just slightly more responsive. Queens have the highest response overall.


Humans

The tree bumblebee is generally quite docile, but if disturbed, it can defend its nest proactively and it has been known to sting people whom it perceives as a threat.


References


External links


''Bombus hypnorum'' distribution map at DiscoverLife.org

Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society: page on ''Bombus hypnorum''

Hymettus information sheet on tree bee


Video about Bombus Hypnorum {{Taxonbar, from=Q811585 Bumblebees Hymenoptera of Asia Hymenoptera of Europe Bees described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus