Collateral Damage - Bombus variabilis is a bee that parasitizes B. pensylvanicus. Its darn hard to find anymore and it is possible there are no recent records at all (I haven't checked). This is the one and only specimen (from the 70s ) from Maryland. B. pensylvanicus went through a crunch a while back and populations dropped. The actual extent of drop and recovery (or not) is unknown, but they are around enough that they are common in my backyard in Maryland (why? Because it is full of big composites like thistle). So, has B. variabilis to be never seen again? Hard to say since it wasn't common to begin with and may have been (probably) been wacked by the same bad pathogens as its hosts, but then again, many uncommon bees are hiding in plain sight as there are few people looking. So, I am going to put a bet out that this species isn't gone, but am not going to be putting out that much money on it. Photo by Brooke Goggins.
