A failed invasion? Commercially introduced pollinators in Southern France

Abstract

-The natural diversity of Bombus terrestris subspecies could be under threat from the commercialisation of bumblebees. Therefore, to determine whether commercially imported bumblebees are able to establish and spread, we carried out long-term observations of bumblebees in southern France. Our surveys occurred before, during, and after the importation (between 1989 and 1996) of thousands of colonies of the Sardinian subspecies B. t. sassaricus. Queens and males of B. t. sassaricus were observed foraging outside commercial greenhouses in 1991, 1993, and 1994 and feral workers were observed foraging on native vegetation nearly two years after the importation of B. t. sassaricus ceased. However, no B. t. sassaricus, or F1 hybrids were observed after 1998. We conclude that B. t. sassaricus remains inconspicuous in France and competition from the three native subspecies may have prevented it from becoming invasive. However, genetic interference through introgression cannot be ruled out.Bombus terrestris sassaricus / bumble bee trade / establishment / introduced subspecies / niche availability

The effects of aposematic coloration on predation risk in bumblebees: a re‐analysis of Stelzer et al. (2010)

“…() reported on the failure of B. t. sassaricus to establish itself in the wild in southern France. Thousands of colonies of B. t. sassaricus were shipped to southern Europe from 1989 to 1996 for glasshouse pollination of tomatoes (Ings et al ., ). Early surveys showed that bees were escaping into the wild, and by 1998, B. t. sassaricus had become established in one area of southern France.…”

Climatic Risk and Distribution Atlas of European Bumblebees

“…Nevertheless, in some cases, successful colonisation could not be supported even by the import of thousands of B. terrestris colonies, as has been the case for the Sardinian B. terrestris sassaricus which has been exported to areas in Southern France (Ings et al, 2010).…”

Pathogen prevalence in commercially reared bumble bees and evidence of spillover in conspecific populations

“…However, the trade in bumble bees frequently involves introductions of non-native species, e.g. Bombus terrestris has been imported by over 57 countries, 16 are outside its native range (Ings, 2007;Ings et al, 2010). B. terrestris has now become established in the wild in Japan (Inari et al, 2005), Chile (Ruz, 2002) and Argentina (Torretta et al, 2006), and was intentionally introduced into New Zealand in 1885 and spread to Tasmania in 1992.…”