''Bombus sylvicola'' 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 ...

native to North America. It occurs throughout most of Canada, its distribution extending into

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and the western contiguous United States.NatureServe. 2015
''Bombus sylvicola''.
NatureServe Explorer Version 7.1. Accessed 11 March 2016. In the southernmost extent of its range in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

it occurs only at elevation.Hatfield, R., et al. 2015
''Bombus sylvicola''.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 11 March 2016. It is known commonly as the forest bumblebee. This is a common species. It is a bee of

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

and

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

s. It lives in open, grassy habitat such as mountain meadows. It nests underground, or sometimes on the surface. Its food plants include sandworts,

rabbitbrush Rabbitbrush is a common name for shrubs, principally of the western United States, in three related genera of the family Asteraceae: * '' Chrysothamnus'' — about seven species in the United States, including Greene's rabbitbrush * ''Ericame ...

, fireweeds, lupines, coyote mints, butterburs, mountain heathers, and groundsels. This was one of two bees featured in a study showing how

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

may be affecting their

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

. This species is polymorphic, with longer-tongued and shorter-tongued individuals. As the current climate change progresses, longer-tongued individuals are becoming less common in the population because flowers with long corollas are becoming less abundant. Shorter-tongued bees are having more success as generalist foragers among the available flora. This species is very similar to the black-tailed bumblebee (''B. melanopygus''), the two sometimes having nearly identical color patterns.Owen, R. E., Whidden, T. L., & Plowright, R. C. (2010)
Genetic and morphometric evidence for the conspecific status of the bumble bees, ''Bombus melanopygus'' and ''Bombus edwardsii''.
''Journal of Insect Science'', 10(109) 1-18.

References

Bumblebees Hymenoptera of North America Insects described in 1837 {{bombus-stub