Rusty-patched bumble bees (Bombus affinis), are crucial pollinators of wildflowers and crops, like apples and cranberries. Named after the reddish patch on its back, the insect was listed as federally endangered in 2017.
Experts estimated that numbers have declined by 87 percent in the last two decades. Before its population declined, rusty-patched bees were found in prairies, woodlands, farms, gardens and parks across the eastern U.S., the upper Midwest and parts of Canada.
In a recent study published in G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, researchers sequenced the bee’s entire genome to understand its decline and how it affects the bee's biology. The genetic map of the rusty-patched bee's genome may be the key to saving the species.
