yellow-faced bumble beeBombus vosnesenskii
Ménage à quatre? I was visiting a friend to check out her newly expanded honey bee hives and while we were talking we noticed this pile of bumble bees on the fence. This hefty female had 3 males on her, with one actively doing the deed. I don't know, but it seems a little early in the year for bumble bees to be mating.
Click to see the orange-rumped bumble bee, my only other bumble bee post so far. These two species both have yellow faces. The orange-rumped (not always orange in color) has additional yellow bands of fuzz where the thorax meets the abdomen. In contrast, notice above the yellow-faced has black around its midsection. It's funny how the common names refer to the color of faces or rumps.
Click to see the orange-rumped bumble bee, my only other bumble bee post so far. These two species both have yellow faces. The orange-rumped (not always orange in color) has additional yellow bands of fuzz where the thorax meets the abdomen. In contrast, notice above the yellow-faced has black around its midsection. It's funny how the common names refer to the color of faces or rumps.
2 comments:
super photo; nice blog; bravo
We've been getting tons of the humongous all black bumbles - they love the various xeric perennials that are blooming. YAY bees.
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