The short-haired bumblebee (''Bombus subterraneus''), or short-haired humble-bee, 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 group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

found in Eurasia, as well as in New Zealand, where it is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. It lived in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

among other parts of Europe. This species became extinct in the British Isles in 1989. The cause of its sudden extinction is debated, but many scientists believe that it was due to a lack of genetic diversity.

Introduction and reintroduction

The short-haired bumblebee was one of four species of bumblebee introduced into New Zealand from the United Kingdom between 1885 and 1906 for pollination of

red clover ''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions. Description Red clov ...

. In New Zealand, it is the rarest of the four species, with small numbers at a few locations in inland

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. The last recorded sighting in the United Kingdom was in 1988 and was considered to be

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from there until re-introduced. A programme was started in 2009 to reintroduce it to the United Kingdom with queen bees from New Zealand. The programme was run by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, the

Bumblebee Conservation Trust The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is an organisation in the UK that makes efforts to monitor and conserve bumblebees and their habitat. History The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was established by Dave Goulson in 2006 with a grant of £49,900 from ...

, the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...

and bee and wasp charity Hymettus. However, this was not a success, as many of the queens died during hibernation. DNA analysis of the New Zealand bees showed they lacked genetic diversity. In 2012, a second attempt was made to reintroduce the short-haired bumblebee using queens from Skåne province of southern Sweden. By the summer of 2013, workers of the species were found within 5 kilometres of the reintroduction site, showing that nesting had been successful. The project continued collecting bumblebee queens from Skåne until the spring of 2016, to get a genetic span.

References

External links

BWARS: ''Bombus subterraneus''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q596482 Bumblebees Bees described in 1758 Hymenoptera of Australia Hymenoptera of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Hymenoptera of New Zealand