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Free e-book on how to recognise the 6 common bumblebees available now from the downloads page.
There are about 19 different
species of bumblebee (and six species of cuckoo
bumblebees) found in the UK. On this page I will show you how to recognise
some of the less common species, but really the best way to recognise all
bumblebees is to use the keys and photographs in books.
The bumblebee body can be divided into three main parts to make
identification easy. These are:
The head, which can be quite
difficult to see on a foraging bee as it is deep in the flower.
The thorax which has the wings and legs attached. It is
really just a box of muscles. The biggest being the flight muscles.
The
abdomen which has the honey stomach for storing nectar, the sting, the
wax glands and all the digestive and reproductive organs.
Males have slightly longer antennae, bigger eyes, no sting and no pollen basket.
Workers are usually smaller than the queen. |
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Queen |
Worker |
Male |
Often found in heath and moorland. More frequent in Scotland, in southern England. It is found in gardens and calcareous grassland as well as heathland.
Body lengths, queen 16 mm, worker 12mm, male 12mm. |
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Same as queen |
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Queen, pale form |
Queen, intermediate form |
Queen, dark form |
Workers can be intermediate or pale, males tend to be pale. Now found in just a few sites in England, and almost extinct, however it flourishes in New Zealand where they were introduced in 1885. Also has been found in Argentina since 1994, and may be causing the decline of the native B. dahlbomii. Prefers flower-rich areas, especially those with vetches, clover and nettle. Prefers to nest underground.
ody lengths, queen 22 mm, worker 16 mm, male 15 mm.
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Queen |
Worker |
Male |
A lowland
species found mainly in Southern England. Queens and workers have pollen baskets framed with reddish
hairs. Males similar to Bombus lapidarius The UK
status for this bumblebee is nationally scarce. The preferred nest site is on or just below ground.
Body lengths, queen 17 mm, worker 15 mm, male 13 mm.
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Same as queen |
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Queen |
Worker |
Male |
In UK found in only 7 sites in S. E. England. Population is declining steeply. Preferred nest sites are on or just below the ground. Has a higher pitched buzz than other bumblebees.
Body lengths, queen 17 mm, worker 14 mm, male 13 mm.
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Same as queen |
Same as queen |
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Queen |
Worker |
Male |
A moorland
species, often found pollinating bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus),
cowberry and cranberry. Found in declining numbers in the north and western highlands.
Body lengths, queen 16 mm, worker 12 mm, male 14 mm.
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Same as queen. |
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Queen |
Worker |
Male |
Prefers heathlands and uplands in the Hebrides, and calcareous grassland in southern England. Is more frequent in Scotland, and declining in the south, not recorded in Ireland. Nests underground in old mammal burrows. Successful nests can have up to 150 workers. Note the break in the yellow band on the abdomen. The male has a thin line of ginger hairs between the white of the tail and black of the abdomen.
Body lengths, queen 16 mm, worker, 12 mm, male 13 mm.
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Same as queen |
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Queen |
Worker |
Male |
Restricted to coastal sites in Northern Scotland. Nests just below or on the ground surface. In the UK this
species is listed as nationally scarce.
Body lengths, queen 20 mm, worker 16 mm, male 15 mm.
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Similar to queen |
Similar to queen |
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Queen |
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Uncommon, prefers
moorland, fen and salt marshes. Nests on ground surface. No black hairs on
abdomen. Population has declined, and it is now very rare and found on a few Hebridean islands. The preferred nest site is on or just below the ground.
Body lengths, queen 18 mm, worker 14 mm, male 14 mm.
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Similar to queens |
Similar to queens |
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Queen |
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Restricted to
southern England coastal and chalkland areas, very similar to Bombus
muscorum (above), no black hairs on abdomen. The UK status of this
bumblebee is local. The preferred nest site is on or just below ground.
Body lengths, queen 17 mm, worker 13 mm, male 13 mm.
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Similar to queens |
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Queen |
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Male |
Declared extinct in 2000. Rare, restricted to S.
England on flower-rich heathland and grassland, however it flourishes in New Zealand where it was introduced in 1885, and is now found on the shingle margins of large lakes. Nests below the surface. There are plans to re-introduce this species into Kent in England from New Zealand. |
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Bombus hypnorum |
Queen |
Worker |
Male |
First recorded in the UK in 2001 in Hampshire. Now found infrequently in southern England as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is easy to recognise as it has a ginger thorax and a black abdomen with white tip. It has been most commonly found in gardens, and often nests in bird nest boxes. The queen may have some yellow hairs on her abdomen. Males can have some yellow hairs on the face. Queens are known to have multiple matings, although genetic studies have show that most of the resulting offspring have the genes of a single male. Males have been noticed hovering in groups outside the entrance to bird nest boxes where there is a hypnorum nest with new queens ready to emerge. It is presumed they are waiting to mate with the new queens.
Body lengths, queen 18 mm, worker 14 mm, male 16 mm.
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Similar to queen, but smaller |
Similar to queen but slightly smaller |
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*Images taken
from the excellent book Bumblebees,
published by The Richmond Publishing Company Ltd., P.O. Box 963, Slough, SL2
3RS, U.K. rpc@richmond.co.uk
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(C) 1997 - 2012 |
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