brown-belted bumble bee

(Bombus griseocollis)

Conservation Status
brown-belted bumble bee
Photo by Luciearl
  IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

 
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Brown-belted bumble bee is a very common, large, colonial, ground-nesting bumble bee. The thorax and first abdominal segment are yellow. The head and the rest of the abdomen is black.

The female (worker) bee is to 11 16 long. The upperside of the thorax is mostly covered with short yellow hairs except for a small, round, black, bare spot in the middle that is more or less fringed with short black hairs. The light colored hairs are often very pale yellow, sometimes almost white.

There are six abdominal segments. The first segment is densely covered with yellow hairs. Segment 2 has a yellow spot in the middle at the leading (anterior) edge that extends less than half way to the trailing (posterior) edge of the segment, and a brown band along the leading edge that swoops below the yellow spot. Segments 3 through 6 are entirely black and densely covered with short black hairs.

The hairs on the head are mostly black including a dense tuft of hairs at the top (vertex). There are two large compound eyes, one on each side of the head; and three small simple eyes (ocelli) in a triangular pattern at the top of the head between the compound eyes. The middle ocellus is larger than the the two lateral ones. The top of the small (lateral) ocelli are on a virtual line (supraorbital line) with the top of the compound eyes. The antennae have 12 segments. The first antenna segment is slightly shorter than than the second and third combined.

The wings and legs are black.

The queen is similar but larger.

The male (drone) is similar but has much larger eyes, 7 abdominal segments, and 13 antennae segments. The hairs on the front and back of the head are yellow. Abdominal segments 3 through 7 are black but with evident yellow hairs at the margins.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Queen: 13 16 to

Male: to ¾

Worker: to 11 16

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Two-spotted bumble bee (Bombus bimaculatus) yellow spot on abdominal segment 2 extends nearly to the posterior edge of the segment. It may be indented in the middle appearing as two connected spots or a rounded “W”. The hairs on the back of the head of the female are yellow. The eyes on the male are not larger.  
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Many kinds of areas with flowers, including prairies, meadows, agricultural fields, and urban gardens.

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

Late March to early October

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

Bumble bees will sting to protect themselves or their nest. The stinger is not barbed and the bee can sting multiple times.

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

Overwintering queens emerge from hibernation in late April. They build nests mostly underground but sometimes on the surface of the ground. The nests are usually small, with 50 or fewer individuals.

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Larvae are fed both nectar for carbohydrates and pollen for protein.

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Adults feed mostly on nectar but also on some pollen.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 7, 24, 27, 29, 24, 30, 82.

 
  8/14/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Very common in eastern North America

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)  
 

Suborder

Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)  
 

Infraorder

Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps)  
 

Superfamily

Apoidea (bees and apoid wasps)  
  Epifamily Anthophila (bees)  
 

Family

Apidae (honey bees, bumble bees, and allies)  
 

Subfamily

Apinae (apine bees)  
 

Tribe

Bombini  
 

Genus

Bombus (bumble bees)  
  Subgenus Cullumanobombus  
       
 

Several former Bombus subgenera have recently been synonymized within the subgenus Cullumanobombus. Until 2008, brown-belted bumble bee (Bombus griseocollis) was classified in the subgenus Separatobombus.

Some authors separate bumble bees and orchid bees into the subfamily Bombinae. NCBI follows this classification. Most authors follow Michener (2007) and include those groups in the subfamily Apinae with the honey bees.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Bombus separatus

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

brown-belted bumble bee

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

 

Minnesota Bumble Bee Identification Guide

The University of MN Bee Lab has a free field identification guide to Minnesota bumble bees. It is indispensable for amateur naturalists or anyone wanting to identify the bumble bee in their photo. Click on the image below to download the guide.

Guide to MN Bumble Bees

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    brown-belted bumble bee   brown-belted bumble bee  
           
    brown-belted bumble bee      
 

Mike Poeppe

 
    brown-belted bumble bee   brown-belted bumble bee  
 

Luciearl

 
    brown-belted bumble bee   brown-belted bumble bee  
 

Margot Avey

 
 

It looked very large even on a sunflower!

 
    brown-belted bumble bee   brown-belted bumble bee  
 

Bill Reynolds

 
  A male Brown-belted Bumble Bee hanging out of a Canadian Goldenrod.   brown-belted bumble bee  
           
    brown-belted bumble bee   brown-belted bumble bee  
 

Christa Rittberg

 
    brown-belted bumble bee   brown-belted bumble bee  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

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Slideshows
 
  Bombus griseocollis
USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab
 
  Bombus griseocollis  

 

slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  Bombus griseocollis
prairieshiksa
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 19, 2010

brown belted bumble bees - Tulsa - June 2010

 
  B. griseocollis
Joseph Napper
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 18, 2015

Brown-belted bumble bee

 
  B. griseocollis nest
Joseph Napper
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 4, 2016

Brown belted bumble bee

 
  (HD Macro) Brown-belted Bumblebee Closeup [Mini-Documentary]
Mantisman630
 
   
 
About

Published on Nov 8, 2014

This week's video is of the brown-belted bumblebee. It is a widely distributed species which one can easily come into contact with. Just keep an eye for the brown band of hairs on the T2 segment of the abdomen. Enjoy!

 
  Brown-belted Bumblebee: Nature Vlog #13
Secret Nature
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 20, 2016

Kirk Mona is a professional interpretive naturalist living in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. His video channel Secret Nature explores the sometimes hidden answers and connections that make nature fascinating.

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Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

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  Alfredo Colon
8/2/2022

Location: Albany, NY

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Mike Poeppe
8/9/2022

Location: Houston County, MN

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Luciearl
6/27/2018

Location: Fairview Township, Cass Co.

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Mike Poeppe
7/11/2021

Location: Houston County, MN

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Alfredo Colon
9/25/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Margot Avey
8/31/2019

Location: St. Louis Park Community Garden

It looked very large even on a sunflower!

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Luciearl
6/27/2018

Location: Fairview Township

brown-belted bumblebee

brown-belted bumble bee  
  Bill Reynolds
8/26/2017

Location: Pennington Co MN

a male Brown-belted Bumble Bee hanging out of a Canadian Goldenrod.

brown-belted bumble bee  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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