The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a suit to require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to determine whether Suckley’s cuckoo bumblebees need protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The conservation group argues the bumblebees are threatened by habitat degradation, overgrazing, pesticide use and climate change. The Center said only a few bees have been spotted in the West over the past two decades, when they were once common across the western U.S. and Canada.
“Protecting these parasitic bees may seem strange, but parasites play an irreplaceable role in keeping other bee populations healthy,” said Jess Tyler, a staff scientist at the Center and a petition co-author.
