Images

Ancyla asiatica, Asiatic Enigma Bee collected in Turkey Nine species of Enigma Bees occur from the Western portion of the Mediterranean to Central Asia. They are called Enigma bees because it has been so difficult to decide which other bees they are closely related to. The reason for this confusion lies in their tongues.

Dominican Republic, possible leaf beetle, floating in and sanitizer in a Cuvetter

And now we present a mystery. Here is a bumble bee collected in northern Virginia in a blue vane trap as part of T'ai Roulston's research group looking at bee populations in restored fields. The question at hand is what species is it? Its a clean, unworn bee, appears to be the size of large worker or perhaps a small queen and it fits some characteristics of B.

Big-eyed Male Bombus nevadensis from Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Lots of mixups in databases because its old subspecies. B. n. auricomus was raised to species status, but that memo has not gotten out to all the database people. Databases seem so simple, if only taxonomists wouldn't change the names all the time.! Photo by Anders Croft.

Let us present the first record of Bombus rufocinctus for the state of Pennsylvania. This is a not uncommon northern and western species....it just hasn't been found in PA as of yet. Some notes on its identification.

Bombus rufocinctus - A northern and western bumble bee, notable for the great variety in patterns of light and dark hairs (and sometimes red ones) on the abdomen that has confused many a biologist. This is a male from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, collected as part of climate change project in the early part of this decade. Photograph by Wayne Boo.

Another bumble bee! How many can there be? Answer: About 50 north of Mexico. Here is a widespread northern one. Bombus rufocinctus. Collected in Yellowstone National Park. Photograph by Colby Francouer.

Three more bumblebees today from Yellowstone National Park, or should I say three more pictures of one bumblebee. These are shots of Bombus rufocinctus. This species is notoriously variable in its hair coloration. In this particular shot there is a great deal of reddish orange in the abdomen.

A bumble bee with issues. This is the Yellow-banded Bumble Bee. Or, scientifically, we call it Bombus terricola. Its one of a number of Bumbles in North America that have been penalized by the introduction of Nosema bombi, an inadvertent import from Europe.

A series of pictures of a queen and a male of the northernish bumble bee Bombus vagans. Still a reasonable common component of northern Appalachian systems, its been retreating from its lower elevation and southern edges over the last century.

A series of pictures of a queen and a male of the northernish bumble bee Bombus vagans. Still a reasonable common component of northern Appalachian systems, its been retreating from its lower elevation and southern edges over the last century.

Bombus fraternus. The Southern Plains Bumble Bee. This crisp, handsome and short-faced bee suffers from lack of an adequate publicist. Thought, several other Bumble Bees in its clan, to be in decline from introduced pathogens. It gets little mention in the bee press.

Bombus fraternus - Here is one of the very uncommon bumblebees that are of great concern these days, due to introduced parasites that have caused this species and its sister taxa to crash. Fortunately, they are still around, at least in small numbers.

Bumblebees are so charismatic. Here is a queen form downtown Washington D.C. very near the mall. Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200,

More bumble bees...! But this one is from New Zealand. Do bumble bees belong in New Zealand? No. They were introduced. This one is Bombus hortorum, Widespread in Europe and Asia...and now widespread in New Zealand this species was purposefully introduced to help with clover related pollination.

More bumble bees...! But this one is from New Zealand. Do bumble bees belong in New Zealand? No. They were introduced. This one is Bombus hortorum, Widespread in Europe and Asia...and now widespread in New Zealand this species was purposefully introduced to help with clover related pollination.

The most common of all the eastern Bumblebees, Bombus impatiens, is something of the cow/chicken/pig of the non-honeybee world. Now used throughout the continent to fertilize plants in greenhouse cultivation. Note the whitish rather than yellowish light colored hairs and that the first segment of the abdomen has light hairs, but remainder are black.

People think that identifying Bumble Bees are easy. They are big, there are "guides" that show the color patterns...so what could go wrong....well....things like this specimen of Bombus impatiens. It should have NO red / brown on it, but this specimens has 2 whole tergites that are reddish brown.

A hulking bumble bee nest parasite. Bombus insularis is another example of alternative bumble bee lifestyles. Usurping nests of other bumbles to raise their young. This one is found throughout the northern parts of North America and down the western mountains, but not the Appalachians.

Another male Yosemite Bumble Bee. B. melanopygus is similar to B. bifarius illustrated in the last set of picture, but a bit more higher elevation and bit more arctic in its distributions. There is a softness to the face here that I find most appealing. Collected by Claire Kremen's group in the National Park. Photo by Anders Croft.

The female face of the series we took of B. vandykei from Yosemite National Park. Just cleaning up.