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Review
. 2025 Jan 18;14(1):94.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens14010094.

The Role of Pathogens in Bumblebee Decline: A Review

Huanhuan Chen  1   2   3 , Nawaz Haider Bashir  1 , Qiang Li  1   2 , Chao Liu  1 , Muhammad Naeem  1 , Haohan Wang  1 , Wenrong Gao  1 , Richard T Corlett  4 , Cong Liu  5   6 , Mayra C Vidal  5
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Pathogens in Bumblebee Decline: A Review

Huanhuan Chen et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Bumblebees, the most important wild pollinators in both agricultural and natural ecosystems, are declining worldwide. The global decline of bumblebees may threaten biodiversity, pollination services, and, ultimately, agricultural productivity. Several factors, including pesticide usage, climate change, habitat loss, and species invasion, have been documented in the decline of bumblebee species, but recent studies have revealed the dominating role of pathogens and parasites over any of these causes. Unfortunately, there is a lack of a full understanding of the role of pathogens and parasites in the decline of bumblebee species. The current study provides a comprehensive review of how pathogens and parasites contribute to the decline of bumblebee species. The study also explores the prevalence of each pathogen and parasite within bumblebee populations. Furthermore, we address the synergistic effects of pathogens and other stressors, such as pesticides, climatic effects, and habitat loss, on bumblebee populations. To summarize, we propose possible conservation and management strategies to preserve the critical role of bumblebees in pollination services and thus to support ecosystem and agricultural health.

Keywords: Bombus species; Crithidia; Vairimorpha; bee decline; pathogens; viruses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Factors affecting bumblebees’ health (references in the text).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flowchart of the literature search and screening process in this study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution and prevalence of bumblebee pathogens (points represent the country-level prevalence of pathogens, not the exact locations of pathogens).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bombus terrestris: (A) healthy colony, (B) healthy fourth instar larva, (C) healthy adult, (D–F) Ascosphaera apis chalkbrood-infected fourth instar larvae, (G–I) deformed wing virus infected adults; scale bars = 50 mm (B,D–F), 5 mm (C,G–H) (sources: Zhang et al. [78] (A), Pereira et al. [16] (B,D–F), and Cilia et al. [15] (C,G–I)).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Interaction between environmental changes and pathogen dynamics, and their impacts on bumblebees.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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