Endangered-host-association

Guides

• Bombus ashtoni

  Ashton's cuckoo bumble bee

  Bombus ashtoni is a cuckoo bumble bee (subgenus Psithyrus) native to North America. Unlike social bumble bees, this species does not produce workers or construct its own nests. Instead, females infiltrate established colonies of other Bombus species and exploit the host workers to rear their own offspring. This parasitic lifestyle has been documented specifically with hosts including Bombus affinis, Bombus terricola, and Bombus fervidus. The species is subject to the same conservation concerns affecting its host species, particularly the endangered rusty patched bumble bee (B. affinis).

  cuckoo-bumble-beesocial-parasitePsithyruspollinatorendangered-host-association

• Ceratophaga vicinella

  Gopher Tortoise Shell Moth

  Ceratophaga vicinella is a highly specialized keratin-feeding moth in the family Tineidae. The larvae feed exclusively on the keratin shells of dead gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), making this species dependent on a single host source that is currently in decline. Adults are small, dark moths with distinctive cream-colored head tufts. The species has a restricted range in the southeastern United States and appears to be declining due to threats facing its tortoise host.

  keratinophagousspecialistthreatenedhost-specificdecomposerindicator-speciesTineidaeLepidopteraendangered-host-associationsoutheastern-USAFloridaMississippigopher-tortoiseGopherus-polyphemusgregarious-larvaesilk-tube-construction