Bombus (Bombus) affinis Cresson 1863

Gibbs, Jason, Ascher, John S., Rightmyer, Molly G. & Isaacs, Rufus, 2017, The bees of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), with notes on distribution, taxonomy, pollination, and natural history, Zootaxa 4352 (1), pp. 1-160 : 40

Bombus (Bombus) affinis Cresson 1863

County records: Alcona, Allegan, Alpena, Barry, Benzie, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Clare, Clinton, Emmet, Genesee, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham, Isabella, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Manistee, Marquette, Mason, Mecosta, Midland, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oakland, Oceana, Ogemaw, Osceola, Ottawa, Saginaw, Sanilac, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Tuscola, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne, Wexford.

Notes. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has approved this species for endangered status, after being sued for failing to act on a petition to list the species in an appropriate time frame. Although described as ‘uncommon’ in Michigan by Husband et al. (1980), Bombus affinis is relatively well represented in the LP historically as represented by specimens deposited at MSUC. Bombus affinis has suffered a catastrophic decline in population size ( Giles & Ascher 2006; Cameron et al. 2011). No specimens are known from Michigan since 2000, but with extensive sampling effort (e.g., Cameron et al. 2011), a small number of recent specimens (since 2001) have been collected, photographed (see http://bugguide.net and http://bumblebeewatch.org), or observed in Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin. A specimen collected in 2013 from Toledo, Lucas Co., Ohio, less than 13 km south of the Michigan border (http://bumblebeewatch.org), suggests that this species may persist in southeastern Michigan.