A bumble bee found in South Carolina is declining so precipitously it is being considered for listing as an endangered species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that the Southern Plains bumble bee and eight other species across the country should be considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The bee once was in 26 states but has disappeared from Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Dakota and Ohio so far. It is found in the Southeast and into the Midwest.
Scientists say it could go extinct within 80 to 90 years.
The problem is an almost overwhelming collection of challenges — loss of habitat, pesticide use, pathogens from managed pollinators, competition with non-native bees and climate change, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation said. The Portland, Oregon, nonprofit is named for an extinct California butterfly, Xerces Blue.
The Fish and Wildlife Service described the Southern Plains bumble bee as “a large black and yellow bumble bee identified by its short hair, short head and typically yellow coloring between the head and thorax, between the wings.”