BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Bombus fervidus
Yellow Bumble Bee
| Scientific Name: | Bombus fervidus (Fabricius, 1798) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Bombus (Thoracobombus) californicus
Bombus (Thoracobombus) fervidus Bombus californicus |
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| English Name: | Yellow Bumble Bee | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Williams, P.H., R.W. Thorp, L.L. Richardson, and S.R. Colla. 2014b. Bumble bees of North America: an Identification Guide. Princeton University Press. 208 pp. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | HY-BOMFRV | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G3G4 (Apr 2018) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Dec 2016) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | It sometimes nests underground, but mostly nests on the surface or aboveground in tall grass, hay stacks or in deserted mouse nests; males congregate outside nest entrances in search of mates (Williams et al. 2014). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N N / N N / N na / N |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Typical habitats include open farmland and fields, urban parks, and gardens (Williams et al. 2014). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: | |||||||||||
| Global Food Habits Comments: | A long-tongued, later emerging species; food plants include Astragalus, Cirsium, Helianthus, Lonicera, Lythrum, Monarda, Pedicularis, Penstemon, Trifolium, and Vicia (Williams et al. 2014). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | |||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This bumble bee is widespread across much of the mid-latitudes of the continent, from the Canadian Maritimes, northeastern United States south through the mountains to Georgia, to Nebraska and northern Arkansas in the Midwest, and west to the mountains of Arizona, and to the coast in California, Washington and southern British Columbia. This species is also present in Mexico (Williams et al. 2014). The historical range extent of this species is estimated at 13,577,058 kmē, and the extent of current (2008-2017) observations is 11,005,906 kmē. Controlling for larger historical sample size, the range of this species has declined by an estimated 16%. |
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| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
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| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Williams, P.H., R.W. Thorp, L.L. Richardson, and S.R. Colla. 2014b. Bumble bees of North America: an Identification Guide. Princeton University Press. 208 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. Species Summary: Bombus fervidus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jul 1, 2025).