First U.S. bumblebee officially listed as endangered

According to National Geographic, the bee’s population has plummeted nearly 90 percent since the 1990s.


From National Geographic:

It’s official: For the first time in the United States, a bumblebee species has been declared endangered.

The rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), once a common sight, is “now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once thriving in 28 states and the District of Columbia, but over the past two decades, the bee’s population has plummeted nearly 90 percent. There are more than 3,000 bee species in the United States, and about 40 belong to the genus Bombus — the bumblebees.

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