bumble bees

Bombus is a genus of very common, well-known, medium-sized to large hairy bees known as bumble bees. It occurs on every continent on the globe, though in Africa it is restricted to the north and in Australia it occurs only in Tasmania, where it was introduced. There are more than 250 bumble bee species worldwide, 46 species in North America north of Mexico, and at least 19 species in Minnesota.

Bumble bees are truly social, having a single reproductive queen and multiple sterile workers. Most nest in the ground in abandoned rodent burrows, in leaf litter, or in wood piles. Queens live only one year. Old queens and workers are killed by cold weather in the fall, while new mated queens hibernate beneath the soil litter.

Bumble bees have robust, rounded bodies covered with long soft hair. They are black with usually yellow, rarely orange, contrasting markings. The upper surface of the abdomen is hairy. On the forewing the second submarginal cell is somewhat rectangular and about as long as the first. On the hindwing there is no jugal lobe.

Sources

4, 7, 22, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Bumble Bee or Bumblebee?

In common usage the word bumblebee is written at least as often as the as the term bumble bee. In scientific usage, however, there is a “correct” form. The rule is: if the second part of the term accurately reflects the organism’s identity then it should stand alone. If it does not, then it should be concatenated. In short, “If true, then two.”

The Entomological Society of America follows the convention suggested by R. E. Snodgrass, author of Anatomy of the Honey Bee, when assigning common names to insects. Snodgrass states, “If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddisfly and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an dandelion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; ‘honeybee’ is equivalent to ‘Johnsmith.’”

2 Bumble Bees on a Thistle Bloom...

2 on the same plant made me smile.

I have a huge area of jewelweed. This bee seems to be especially attracted to it.

Location: Frenchman’s Bluff SNA

2 on the same plant made me smile.

Location: Lake Shore

I have a huge area of jewelweed. This bee seems to be especially attracted to it.

Location: Woodbury, MN

Location: Woodbury, MN