The Ecology and Sociobiology of Bumble Bees

Abstract

The bumble bees (genus Bombus Latreille) and their parasites (genus Psithyrus Lepeletier) comprise a group of several hundred species found primarily in north temperate regions. During the past 25 years, no less than 5 books on the general biology of bumble bees have appeared (2,34,57,81,101). Various aspects of bumble bee biology have been covered as part of more general reviews: bees as pollinators (80), the energetics of pollination (54, 61), forag­ ing and mating behavior (3 1), the sociobiology (121,226,227), biogeography (104), and social behavior (105) of bees, and bees as crop pollinators (33, 102). In addition, the bionomic characteristics of the group have been discussed by Sakagami (186). Morse ( l16a) recently reviewed the ecology and behavior of bumble bees and Milliron (108) gave a relatively complete bibliography of bumble bee literature prior to 1962. Our purpose in the present review has been to provide a guide to, and some critical assessment of, part of the literature on the genus Bombus that has appeared during the past decade. We have concentrated primarily on two areas in which research activity has been particularly high: (a) social behavior and (b) evolutionary ecology, within which we have treated foraging behavior exten­ sively, both because of the volume of recent work and because of current interest in bumble bees as components in the ecology of pollination. Limita­ tions of space precluded the incorporation of several important aspects of bumble bee biology, such as sensory physiology, mating behavior, parasites and commensals, biogeography, and biosystematics.