Mamangava Bellicose bumblebee Bombus bellicosus

Mamangava Bellicose bumblebee Bombus bellicosus

Red List Status: Data Deficient (Considered endangered)

Locations: Historical range of the Bombus bellicosus includes the Pampas grasslands of Uruguay, Argentina, and southern Brazil. They have been declared extinct in the state of Paraná, Brazil, and their distribution is retreating southwards due to rising temperatures.

Appearance and behaviour

The Bellicose bumblebee AKA Mamangava is a striking insect, easily recognised by their intensely yellow thorax which contrasts sharply with their black head and legs. Their abdomen is primarily black, often with distinct yellow bands that make them visible from a distance as they forage. Bombus bellicosus are social insects, living in annual colonies that are typically built on the ground or in shallow underground cavities, often using abandoned mammal burrows or tufts of thick grass for shelter. A unique feature of their behaviour is the construction of a wax cover over their brood to trap heat, an adaptation perfect for cool climates but fatal in a warming world. They are tireless workers, capable of vibrating their flight muscles to release pollen from flowers, a behaviour known as buzz pollination which is essential for many native plants and food crops that honeybees cannot effectively pollinate.

Mamangava threats

Beautiful and ecologically important Mamangavas face a perfect storm of threats.

Temperature increases due to climate crisis

As a species adapted to temperate grasslands, Mamangavas are extremely sensitive to rising temperatures. The bees cannot survive the intensifying heatwaves caused by climate change, which forces them to retreat further south in search of cooler conditions. This range contraction means they are losing habitat faster than they can adapt.

Pesticide poisoning

Industrial agriculture in South America relies heavily on toxic cocktails of pesticides that are deadly to the Bellicose bumblebee. Mamangavas are exposed to banned and highly hazardous chemicals including paraquat, glyphosate, 2,4-D, and neonicotinoids like imidacloprid. These poisons do not just kill them on contact; they also cause chronic damage, confusing their navigation systems, weakening their immunity, and preventing queens from establishing new nests.

Palm oil deforestation

Mamangavas AKA Bellicose bumblebees are losing their home to the rapid expansion of industrial monocultures. Vast areas of biodiverse grassland and forest are being bulldozed to plant oil palms and soy, replacing complex ecosystems with green deserts that offer no food or shelter for pollinators. This destruction fragments their habitat, leaving populations isolated and unable to find enough flowers to sustain their colonies. Adopt a #vegan lifestyle and #BoycottMeat to protect wild and farmed animals alike.

Meat and soy deforestation

The conversion of ancient grasslands into cattle pastures and soy monocultures is the single biggest driver of the Mamangava’s decline. The native flowers such as passionflowers that they rely on for food are destroyed to make way for grazing land and crops, leaving them to starve in a green desert. Adopt a #vegan lifestyle and #BoycottMeat to protect them!

Geographic range

Historically, Mamangavas inhabited the extensive grasslands of southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. However, their range has dramatically shrunk. They are now considered extinct in the Brazilian state of Paraná, marking a significant northward retreat of their distribution. They are currently restricted to the southern Pampas regions, where cooler temperatures and remnant grassland patches still exist.

Diet

The Bellicose bumblebee AKA Mamangava is a generalist forager, meaning they feed on a wide variety of flowering plants. They collect nectar for energy and pollen to feed their developing larvae. Their diet relies heavily on the diverse wildflowers of the Pampas grasslands, such as passionflower, red clover and bird’s foot trefoil, as well as sunflowers. When these native blooms are replaced by chemical-soaked monocultures, they lose their only food source.

Mating and reproduction

The Mamangava’s life cycle is annual and revolves around a single queen. In spring, a queen emerges from hibernation to find a suitable nest site and lay her first batch of eggs. She cares for these first larvae until they develop into worker bees who then take over foraging duties. Towards the end of the colony’s life, new queens and males are produced. They mate, and the new queens find a safe place to hibernate through the winter while the rest of the colony dies off. This fragile cycle means the entire population’s future rests on the survival of hibernating queens each year.

FAQs: facts about Mamangavas

Why is climate change so deadly to bellicose bumblebee?

The Bellicose bumblebee evolved in cooler climates and developed a specific behaviour to keep their young warm. They build wax covers over their brood cells. As the climate warms due to climate change, this insulation becomes dangerous, trapping too much heat inside the nest and killing the larvae. This inability to handle higher temperatures is forcing the entire species to migrate south, shrinking their available habitat.

Why is the Bellicose bumblebee disappearing from Brazil?

Mamangavas are vanishing primarily because their grassland home has been turned into farmland for animals like cows farmed for their meat, palm oil and soy. This widespread ecocide removes the flowers they need to survive. Additionally, rising temperatures are making their northern habitats too hot for them to tolerate.

How does palm oil expansion affect grassland species?

Palm oil plantations are often associated with tropical forests, but their expansion in South America and other tropical regions also threatens transition zones and grasslands. The conversion of these lands into monocultures destroys the specific nesting sites of the Mamangava and many other native bee species along with the native flowers that the Mamangava depends on, effectively starving them out of their own home.

How does climate change affect the Bellicose bumblebee?

These beautiful bees are a cold-adapted species that thrive in temperate climates. As global temperatures rise, their historical habitats become lethally hot, forcing the bellicose bumblebees to migrate southwards to find cooler areas. This shift is causing their total range to shrink rapidly.

Take Action!

The Mamangava/Bellicose bumblebee needs wild grasslands, not concrete jungles and endless fields of palm oil monoculture! You can help these irreplacable pollinators by changing what you put on your plate. Meat production is the leading cause of habitat destruction in their range. Adopt a vegan lifestyle and #BoycottMeat to protect wild and farmed animals alike. Boycott palmoil to secure more important ecosystem for them in the future. Use your wallet as a weapon and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.

Support Mamangavas by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

Martins, A.C. 2016. Bombus bellicosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T21215137A21215181. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T21215137A21215181.en. Accessed on 13 February 2026.

Martins, A. C., & Melo, G. A. R. (2010). Has the bumblebee Bombus bellicosus gone extinct in the northern portion of its distribution range in Brazil? Journal of Insect Conservation, 14, 207–210. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-009-9243-9

Martins, A. C., Silva, D. P., De Marco Júnior, P., & Melo, G. A. R. (2015). Species conservation under future climate change: the case of Bombus bellicosus, a potentially threatened South American bumblebee species. Journal of Insect Conservation, 19, 33–43. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10841-014-9740-7

Nunes-Silva, P., Acosta, A. L., Borges, R. C., Freitas, B. M., Oliveira, R. C., Giannini, T. C., & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V. L. (2025). Climate change will alter Amazonian bumblebees’ distribution, but effects are species-specific. Frontiers in Bee Science, 3, 1510004. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bee-science/articles/10.3389/frbee.2025.1510004/full

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