red-belted bumble bee

(Bombus rufocinctus)

Conservation Status
red-belted bumble bee
Photo by Bill Reynolds
  IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

 
  NatureServe

N4N5 - Apparently Secure to Secure

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

The female (worker) bee is 7 16 to ½ long. The thorax and abdomen are densely covered with short hairs. The thorax is mostly yellow with a conspicuous black dot-shaped mark. Females have six abdominal segments. The first and fourth abdominal segments are yellow, the second and third are reddish, and the fifth and sixth are black. The head is black with a few light hairs above the antennae. The tongue is short.

The queen is similar but longer and plumper.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Queen: to 11 16

Worker: 7 16 to ½

Male: ½

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Tricolored bumble bee (Bombus ternarius) has a black T-shaped mark, not a dot, on the thorax.  
     
 
Habitat
 
 

 

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

June to September

 
     
 

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

 
 

The queen emerges from hibernation and searches for a new nesting site in May.

 
     
 

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, especially flowers of clovers, sweet clovers, thistles, goldenrods, bonesets, and asters.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

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

 
  9/25/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Frequently found

 
         
 
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  
       
 

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

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

red-belted bumble bee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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Babette Kis

 
 

Bombus rufocinctus red belted bumblebee

Bombus rufocinctus red belted bumblebee on common teasel Racine Co. WI, weedy area of Barnes Prairie

  red-belted bumble bee  
 

Bill Reynolds

 
  This is Bumble I see quite often here in Minnesota. The flower is a chive growing in my garden.   red-belted bumble bee  
           
 
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  Babette Kis
8/10/2020

Location: Barnes Prairie, Racine Co., Wisconsin

Bombus rufocinctus red belted bumblebee on common teasel Racine Co. WI, weedy area of Barnes Prairie

red-belted bumble bee  
  Bill Reynolds
6/18/2003

This is Bumble I see quite often here in Minnesota. The flower is a chive growing in my garden.

red-belted bumble bee  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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