Seperating the Red-tailed Bumblebees?

[Jason Green]

Afternoon all,

I am currently seeing very good numbers of Red-tailed Bumblebees around at the moment (never seen so many in other years!) - but how do you tell which is which?

Take care,

Jason

[Dogghound]

There is only female Bombus lapidarius, B.ruderarius and B.rupestris possibly male B.rupestris which can be confused.

B.rupestris is a cuckoo be so lack of pollen baskets, smokey wings, sparse hair on abdomen, rounded face. MALE Also tends to have yellow bands across the abdomen formed by the pale tips on the hairs.

B.ruderarius has a short abdomen with more orange on the tail compared to B.lapidarius also B.ruderarius has yellow/orange hairs around the pollen basket, in B.lapidarius they are black.

Not a problem I have here as they are all B.lapidarius ,although if im in the south it makes life harder.

[Jason Green]

Thanks Dan - they were the three I meant, I'll keep a look out.

[threadspider]

Loads of male B. lapidarius here too and they add to the mix.
Judith

[Geoff F]

Yes, I was confused by a male B. lapidarius yesterday, until I stopped to consult the book.