Rare, endangered bee gets habitat protection across 6 states: Here's where

Comments: by Addy Bink - 05/31/26 5:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Addy Bink - 05/31/26 5:00 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING (NEXSTAR) — The rusty patched bumble bee was once found in roughly half the U.S., from Maine down south to Georgia and as far west as the Dakotas. Today, only about a dozen states have recorded sightings of the bee. A new effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aims to help the bee recover further. The rusty patched bumble bee, or Bombus affinis, looks like many other bees. They re mostly yellow, with black bottoms and a spot or band between their wings. Workers and males have an all-yellow first abdominal segment, the FWS explains, while queens are entirely yellow on their first segments, and the rest are black. What makes them stand out, however, is the rusty-colored patch that appears in their middle section, near the wings. This is only present in males and workers. Since 2000, only 13 states have had confirmed sightings of the rusty patched bumble bee: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota (which declared it its state bee), North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin (plus Ontario, Canada). In 2017, it became the first bee species to be federally listed as endangered. On Friday, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that roughly 1.5 million acres of land across five of those states – Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, and Wisconsin, plus West Virginia – had been designated as critical habitat for the rusty patched bumble bee. The ownership of these areas is not impacted by the dedication. The move doesn t establish new reserves or protected areas, either. Instead, the designations may affect development or other actions that involve federal agencies in planning, permitting or implementation of those actions, the FWS explains. The Natural Resources Defense Council called the protections of these areas essential to the survival of one of America s most imperiled pollinators. In a Friday press release, the organization said the FWS s announcement followed a lawsuit they filed alongside the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of Minnesota Scientific and Natural Areas. The lawsuit came after the FWS previously decided against designating critical habitat for the rusty patched bumble bee, the press release said. This determination is the result of over a decade of fighting to secure protections for the rusty patched bumble bee and the areas it depends on to survive, said Lucas Rhoads, senior attorney at NRDC. Many of its native grasslands have been wiped out, so protecting its last remaining habitat from further destruction is just common sense. These legal protections will help give us the best chance of recovering this once-common pollinator. The bee experienced a significant and rapid decline before being listed as endangered, the FWS explained. It s unclear what exactly caused the rusty patched bumble bee to fall off, but it s believed a number of factors may be to blame. These may include pathogens and parasites, pesticides and fungicides, habitat loss and degradation, managed bees, and the effects of climate change and small population biology, Jay Watson, a conservation biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, told Nexstar in 2024. Previously, the bee could be found in Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The rusty patched bumble bee s range has been cut roughly in half. Now, confirmed sightings have been limited to an area from Minnesota east to Maine, and south to Iowa and Virginia. Earlier this month, wildlife officials updated a map that shows the bee s current range, as well as areas where they believe the bee could return. Areas with the highest potential of seeing the rusty patched bumble bee spread are across southern, eastern, and northeastern Wisconsin; southeastern Minnesota; northeastern Iowa; northern Illinois, and along the border between West Virginia and Virginia. Other small pockets of high potential zones are scattered through Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maine. Maps submitted by the FWS show regions across 33 counties are now considered critical habitats for the rusty patched bumble bee. As it has been primarily found in and around the biggest Midwest cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul, Chicago, Iowa City, and Milwaukee – so too are many of the protected areas. The table below breaks down the counties that are now, at least partially, intended to be protected from destruction or damage that would impact the bees survival. More detailed maps of these regions can be found here. Helping rusty patched bumble b

Rare, endangered bee gets habitat protection across 6 states: Here's where

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