The American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus) population has plummeted by 89 per cent over the past 20 years, and an endangered species listing could be imminent. The US Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct a one-year review, after which the species could become protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which provides a legal framework for safeguarding imperilled species from extinction.
The American bumblebee, a vital pollinator, has vanished from eight US states – Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming – and in New York state the species has experienced a population decline of 99 per cent. In 19 other states across the Southeast and Midwest, populations have dropped by more than 50 per cent. The bumblebee’s decline is attributed to habitat destruction, exposure to disease and pesticides, climate change, loss of genetic diversity and competition with non-native bees. In fact, the states with the largest declines in American bumblebee populations have seen the largest quantified increase in the use of pesticides.