The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking for public input on a new rule to list the Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee as endangered.
The USFWS said that the last time this bee was seen was in 2016 in Oregon.
The Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee relies on other bees to survive and is often found in places like prairies, grasslands, and urban areas across North America.
The bee has been documented in 15 states, including Washington and 11 Canadian territories and provinces.
The USFWS said that this bee is an important indicator of the health of pollinators and native plants.
Unlike most bees, the female cuckoo bumble bee is known for taking over other bumble bee nests, killing the queen, destroying the eggs, ejecting the larvae and taking over the colony.
The survival of bees is at risk due to diminishing host species, the use of pesticides, loss of habitat, and the effects of climate change, according to the USFWS.
Public comment for this rule is open from Dec. 17 through Feb. 18, 2025, and can be found here.
For more details on the ESA listing process, go to: https://www.fws.gov/program/listing-and-classification/what-we-do.