Mortality rates of adult bumble bee workers (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

Survivorship data were obtained for a cohort of 274 individually marked workers of the bumble bee Bombus terricola Kirby. The mortality rate was very nearly constant for the first 14 days of adult life, after which it increased sharply. Environmental hazards, including predation, are considered the most probable causes of death, supplemented by the effects of wear and tear as the insects grow old. The life expectancy for a newly emerged adult worker bee was estimated at 13.2 days. The results, together with those of other studies, are discussed with reference to differences in mortality rates between temperate and tropical bumble bee species.