Bombus cockerelli, Cockerell's bumblebee, is a yellow and black bumblebee known only from fewer than 30 specimens, collected at a few high-altitude (over 6500feet) localities in the White Mountains of New Mexico, all within an area of less than, giving it the smallest range of any of the ~250 species of bumblebees in the world.[1] [2]
Bombus cockerelli is a typical bumblebee in appearance, with queens 15- long, and distinctly smaller workers. The queens and workers are black on the head, with a few pale yellow hairs. The anterior and posterior thorax and the two basal and two terminal abdominal segments are yellow, while abdominal segments 3 and 4 are black.[3] Males are unknown.
Another species of bumblebee, Bombus balteatus, known to occur at high altitudes in Colorado, is similar to B. cockerelli,[4] but B. cockerelli has a shorter head, numerous intermixed black hairs on the anterior thorax, and the abdominal apex is yellow rather than rust-tinted.
The bee was first described in 1913, based on six specimens collected near the Rio Ruidoso in New Mexico. Between 1956 and 2011, not even one was seen.[5] For a time, this bee was believed to be just a subspecies and not a full species. However, given access to fresh specimens whose genetic material can be analyzed, it is expected that it will now be possible to determine whether it is a true species.[1]
Despite how rarely it has been seen, the bee is not believed to be endangered or threatened, because its entire range is in U.S. National Forest and tribal lands.[1]
Nothing is known regarding the biology of this species, other than some specimens having been collected on thistle flowers.[1]