Large garden bumblebee

Large garden bumblebee
B. ruderatus on Centranthus ruber, Genova, Italy
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Bombus
Subgenus: Megabombus
Species: B. ruderatus
Binomial name
Bombus ruderatus
(Fabricius, 1775)

The large garden bumblebee (Bombus ruderatus) is a species of bumblebee found in Europe, but has been introduced to New Zealand and Argentina.

Description

The body lengths of B. ruderatus reach about 22 mm (0.87 in) in queens, 16 mm (0.63 in) in workers and 15 mm (0.59 in) in males. It has a long face and tongue, well adapted for feeding on long-tubed flowers. The basic color of the body is black, with two yellow bands on the thorax and a single thin yellow band on the abdomen, while the tail is white. This bumblebee resembles B. hortorum, but the yellow band on the scutellum is very large, almost the same width of the black band. In B. hortorum, the yellow band is thinner and the black band is much more broad. Furthermore, in B. hortorum, the hairs on the thorax are of equal length, giving some the impression of velvet. It usually nests under ground.

Habitat

The large garden bumblebee prefers large flower-rich areas of meadowland supporting numerous species of plants with long-corolla flower, especially with vetches and clover (Fabaceae), nettle (Urticaceae), red valerian (and other Valerianaceae), and various Lamiaceae species.

Distribution

This species is present in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand,[1] Poland, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland. It has also has been found in Argentina since 1994.

References

  1. ↑ MacFarlane, R.P.; Gurr, L. 1995. Distribution of bumble bees in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 18: 29-36.

External links

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