title: Evidence for Bombus occidentalis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Populations in the Olympic Peninsula, the Palouse Prairie, and Forests of Northern Idaho.
abstract: Since the mid-1990s, Bombus occidentalis (Green) has declined from being one of the most common to one of the rarest bumble bee species in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Although its conservation status is unresolved, a petition to list this species as endangered or threatened was recently submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To shed light on the conservation situation and inform the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision, we report on the detection and abundance of B. occidentalis following bumble bee collection between 2012 and 2014 across the Pacific Northwest. Collection occurred from the San Juan Islands and Olympic peninsula east to northern Idaho and northeastern Oregon, excluding the arid region in central Washington. B. occidentalis was observed at 23 collection sites out of a total of 234. With the exception of three sites on the Olympic peninsula, all of these were in the southeastern portion of the collection range.
authors: Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844 (paul.r.rhoades@gmail.com; sanforde@uidaho.edu), paul.r.rhoades@gmail.com.
authors: Paul R
authors: PR
authors: Rhoades
authors: Department of Biology, Utah State University 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322 (jonathan.b.koch@gmail.com), USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit, BNR 255, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 (james.strange@ars.usda.gov), and.
authors: Jonathan B
authors: JB
authors: Koch
authors: Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844 (lwaits@uidaho.edu).
authors: Lisette P
authors: LP
authors: Waits
authors: USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit, BNR 255, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322 (james.strange@ars.usda.gov), and.
authors: James P
authors: JP
authors: Strange
authors: Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, Moscow, ID 83844 (paul.r.rhoades@gmail.com; sanforde@uidaho.edu).
authors: Sanford D
authors: SD
authors: Eigenbrode
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D065948:Grassland; D007061:Idaho; D014861:Washington
keywords: Bombus conservation; Bombus occidentalis; native bee; native bee conservation; pollinator