65/150: The Buzz surrounding the Yellow-banded Bumble bee

Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apinae:  Bombus: Bombus terricola (Kirby 1837)

The yellow-banded bumble bee is one of nearly 20,000 different species of bees found throughout the world. Yellow-banded bumble bees use a technique called “buzz pollination,” this involves the bee grabbing a flower with its jaws and vibrating their wings, causing inaccessible pollen to shake loose. Bumble bees have varying tongue lengths and this allows them to feed on different flower shapes. Bumble bees also keep small nest populations, with hives containing only 50-400 bees. While this may seem like a lot, honey bees can have hive populations up to 60,000 bees (wow, talk about cramped living quarters!). Honey bees may take all the credit for that delicious honey that we use in our everyday lives, but bumble bees are extremely important pollinators. You can help these little critters by planting bee-friendly local flowers in your garden. There are 82 yellow banded bumble bees with barcodes on BOLD. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

Here’s the barcode sequence information for this species:

Process ID:  BBHEC139-09

nucleotide sequence

AATAATATATTTTATTTTCGCTATATGATCAGGAATAATTGGTTCATCTATAAGTTTATTAATTCGAATAGAATTAAGTCATCCAGGAATATGAATTAATAATGATCAAATTTATAATTCTTTAGTAACTAGACATGCATTTTTAATAATTTTTTTTATAGTAATACCATTTATAATTGGGGGATTTGGAAATTACTTAATTCCATTAATACTAGGATCACCAGATATAGCTTTTCCTCGAATAAATAATATTAGATTTTGACTTTTACCTCCATCATTATTTATATTACTATTAAGAAATTTATTTACACCTAATGTAGGAACAGGATGAACTGTTTATCCTCCTTTATCTTCTTATTTATTTCATTCATCTCCATCAATTGATATTGCAATCTTTTCTTTACATATATCAGGAATTTCTTCTATTATTGGATCATTAAATTTTATTGTTACTATTTTAATAATAAAAAATCTTTCATTAAACTATGATCAAATTAATTTATTCTCATGATCAGTATGTATTACAGTAATTTTATTAATTTTATCTTTACCAGTTTTAGCTGGAGCTATTACTATATTACTCTTCGATCGAAATTTTAATACTTCATTCTTTGATCCAATAGGAGGAGGAGATCCAATTTTATATCAACATTTATTT

amino acid sequence

MMYFIFAMWSGMIGSSMSLLIRMELSHPGMWINNDQIYNSLVTSHAFLMIFFMVMPFMIGGFGNYLIPLMLGSPDMAFPRMNNISFWLLPPSLFMLLLSNLFTPNVGTGWTVYPPLSSYLFHSSPSIDIAIFSLHMSGISSIIGSLNFIVTILMMKNLSLNYDQINLFSWSVCITVILLILSLPVLAGAITMLLFDRNFNTSFFDPMGGGDPILYQHLF

Learn more about it’s BIN (Barcode Index Number): BOLD:AAA8658

Title Image: Specimen 09BBEHY-0139 – Terra Nova National Park – 8-Jul-2009
Photo Credit: CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics