Near Kalamazoo, Michigan, one naturalist's curious photo turned out to be a big discovery.
A bee with a rusty patch across its abdomen — a feature so distinctive it almost could not be missed — was found dead in Nathan Rank's driveway.
A quick photo and upload to iNaturalist confirmed what biologists hadn't seen in Michigan for decades: the endangered rusty-patched bumblebee.
This bee was once common across the Midwest and Eastern United States. By 2017, though, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had listed it as endangered. According to the Xerces Society, it was the first bumblebee on the continent to receive that designation.
While the exact cause for its population decline is unknown, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service linked the drop in rusty patched bumblebee numbers to pesticide use and disease, while habitat loss, a warming climate, and non-native bees are also listed as stressors.
"While Michigan was part of this bee's historic range, since 2000 this bee has only been reported in 13 states and one Canadian province," said the USFWS on Facebook. "Shout out to Nathan Rank for sharing this amazing discovery!"
The sighting may appear small, but it signals an important shift for the local ecology. Bumblebees are pollinators that support many of the crops people depend on, from tomatoes to berries, and without them, local food supplies could fall apart.
When species disappear, the food web weakens along with them. Spotting one rusty-patched bumblebee in Michigan doesn't mean the population is back, but it does suggest that some landscapes can still support this fragile pollinator.
Trail cameras and citizen science apps are becoming some of the most effective tools in conservation, providing snapshots that help researchers track endangered species and measure recovery efforts in a way that was never possible before.
The return of this bee mirrors other hopeful signs: monarch butterflies rebounding in some regions, and the Karner blue butterfly gaining new protections.
Each story points to the same idea: careful management and community involvement can make a difference. For the rusty-patched bumblebee, even one confirmed photo shows that recovery isn't just a theory. It's happening, one flower and one set of wings at a time.
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