Assessment of the genetic base of Tasmanian bumble bees (Bombus terrestris) for development as pollination agents

Invasion success of the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, despite a drastic genetic bottleneck

“…Genetic impoverishment is also suggested by a high frequency (ca. 50%) of laboratorybred colonies producing diploid males in a sample of queens raised a few years after the introduction (Buttermore et al, 1998). This high frequency indicates an invading population even lower than our estimate of not more than three queens.…”

Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees

“…From New Zealand, B. ruderatus has then been moved with success to Chile, where it is now more abundant than native species (Goulson & Hanley, 2004). From New Zealand again, some colonies of B. terrestris have been moved to Tasmania where the species settled and expanded very rapidly (Buttermore et al, 1998;Goulson et al, 2002). The domestication of B. terrestris has led to its translocation to numerous countries where it has successfully established, e.g.…”

“…More than two million B. terrestris colonies (the main bumblebee species used in crop pollination) produced each year are shipped throughout the world (Goka et al, 2001;Velthuis & van Doorn, 2006). Such commercial translocation has resulted in several introductions around the world (Buttermore et al, 1998;Goulson & Hanley, 2004;Torretta et al, 2006;Nukatsuka & Yokoyama, 2010;. Beside the potential low efficiency of translocations for the bumblebee conservation (see chapter 14), only one European species is currently traded making quite unlikely the translocation of e.g.…”

“…At the end of the 19 th century, four species (B. terrestris, B. hortorum, B. ruderatus, and B. subterraneus) were moved from England to New Zealand, where they thrive (Buttermore et al, 1998;Goulson et al, 2002;Velthuis, 2002;Goulson & Hanley, 2004;Torretta et al, 2006;Yokoyama & Inoue, 2010). From New Zealand, B. ruderatus has then been moved with success to Chile, where it is now more abundant than native species (Goulson & Hanley, 2004).…”

Status of the invasion and range expansion of an introduced bumblebee, Bombus terrestris (L.), in Japan

“…B. terrestris arrived in Horbart, Tasmania, in 1992 (Semmens et al, 1993), perhaps via accidental transportation in cargo, and has since spread to occupy a substantial portion of the island, spreading at approximately 12.5 km per year (Buttermore, 1997;Stout and Goulson, 2000;Hingston et al, 2002). The established population of B. terrestris likely originated from a single, inseminated queen (Buttermore et al, 1998).…”