Incredibly rare bumble bee ‘ghost’ reappears in Michigan after 25 years

KALAMAZOO, MI – Scientists have discovered an extremely rare bumble bee species in Michigan for the first time in more than 25 years.

Ecologists believed for years that the rusty-patched bumble bee was likely extirpated from Michigan , which means locally extinct. But now a single specimen found in Kalamazoo is prompting questions about whether a population of the uncommon bee species may be found in Michigan after all.

The discovery of a single deceased rusty-patched bumble bee was made by an insect researcher visiting with family in Michigan.

“The bee was just lying dead in my mom’s driveway, but it was very freshly dead,” said Nathan Rank, an ecology and entomology professor at California’s Sonoma State University.

“It didn’t look all torn up, like you sometimes see with bees th