Can Infiltrators be Indicators? Understanding Cuckoo Bumblebees with The Biological Recording Company

Sofia Dartnell (University of Cambridge) shares her research looking at the lifecycles and impacts of cuckoo bumblebees.

Sign up to this live, online event for a presentation on cuckoo bumblebees, followed by a Q&A with the tutor using questions provided by the audience.

Can’t attend but don’t want to miss out? Book a space to receive a link to watch the post-event recording via The Biological Recording Company Eventbrite page.

Cuckoo bumblebees are obligate parasites that must successfully invade and gain control of a host bumblebee colony to achieve reproductive success. As apex species, these cuckoos have been considered as potential indicator species of healthy bumblebee habitat for some time.

However, our limited understanding of cuckoo bumblebee ecology makes it difficult to understand their full impact on host populations and the challenges they face as a group. In this talk, Sofia describes this fascinating host-parasite relationship and presents experiments she has conducted to unravel the complexities of the cuckoo bumblebee lifecycle.

Sofia Dartnell is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. Before moving to the UK, Sofia completed her undergraduate degree in biology at Pomona College, California. There, she spent time researching the pollinator communities visiting Los Angeles native plants as well as the impacts of urbanisation and habitat loss on pollinator communities. Outside of her research, Sofia is passionate about teaching, with experience teaching undergraduate-level entomology, conservation science, and tropical biodiversity courses.