David Element's Wildlife Web Page Hymenoptera 11

David Element

Wildlife Photography

and Digital Video Images

_______________ Hymenoptera 11 - Bumblebees

VESTAL CUCKOO BEE Bombus vestalis

CARDER BEE Bombus pascuorum

MOSS CARDER BEE Bombus muscorum

TREE BUMBLEBEE Bombus hypnorum

WHITE-TAILED BUMBLEBEE Bombus lucorum

LARGE RED-TAILED BUMBLEBEE Bombus lapidarius

BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE Bombus terrestris

The first illustration is of a socially parasitic Vestal Cuckoo Bee Bombus (Psithyirus) vestalis. The absence of any pollen baskets on the hind legs is quite obvious in this photograph. There are no worker bees and the queens of this species will expel or kill the queen from a social Bombus colony (for example B. terrestris) and utilise the workers to rear their own offspring.

Several British social bumblebee species are shown although a number of other equally worthy bees have been omitted because of space limitations. Identification of even some of the commonest bumblebees is not easy, particularly when the insects are old and worn. The workers usually look like smaller versions of the queens and some species show sexual dimorphism. The pollen baskets are clearly in use in the Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris photograph. There are only six abundant species in the UK and a number of the others are under significant threat of extinction. Anyone with a particular interest in bees and other hymenopterans should refer to the BWARS (Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society) website, particularly as the gallery of species photographs: http://www.bwars.com/Gallery.htm has been significantly expanded recently. The Moss Carder Bee Bombus muscorum is a predominantly coastal and rather rare species with a deep and rather distinctive 'hum'. The orange on the face of the Large Red-Tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius is a dusting of pollen from the Red Deadnettle Lamium purpureum flowers shown in the photograph. The status of the classification of Bombus lucorum is currently under scrutiny as there may be as many as three separate members of a species complex. If this status is confirmed then this bee may be reclassified as Bombus cryptarum. The most notable picture here is of Bombus hypnorum, a very recent arrival to the UK (2001) and an easy species to identify (orange, black, white tricolour pattern from head to tail). The photographer does not know whether the vernacular name of Tree Bumblebee has been officially adopted or not. Although most new insect arrivals in Britain have been associated with the warming climate this is not believed to be the case for B. hypnorum as it has quite a northerly distribution in Europe. This bee was photographed at Kew Gardens and it has now been confirmed as the first member of its species to be recorded there. The photographer was on a family visit and he had just packed his equipment away when he spotted it. Fortunately he was able to entrust the task of keeping an eye on the bee to his daughter whilst re-assembling his camera gear! The first and last photographs were taken with a Nikon D300 camera.