Bombus flavifrons
| Bombus flavifrons | |
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| Species: | B. flavifrons
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| Binomial name | |
| Bombus flavifrons Cresson, 1863[1]
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The yellowhead bumblebee, Bombus flavifrons, is a species of bumblebee, common in western North America.
Description
The yellowhead bumblebee is a robust bumblebee; the queen has a body length between 13 and 16 mm (0.51 and 0.63 in) and a wing span of 27 to 34 mm (1.1 to 1.3 in), the male is 11 to 12 mm (0.43 to 0.47 in) in length with a wingspan of 25 to 26 mm (0.98 to 1.02 in), while the workers have body lengths from 9 to 12 mm (0.35 to 0.47 in) and wing spans from 19 to 27 mm (0.75 to 1.06 in).[2]
The yellowhead bumblebee has a dense, untidy fur. The head is yellow with black hairs intermixed on the posterior part,[2] the thorax has a mixed black and yellow colouration, often (always with the queen) with a black, central field. The first two terga (abdominal segments) are yellow, on the females often with a black, central field on terga 1 to 2. Terga 3 and 4 are red, and the tail black, sometimes with yellow fields.[3]
- Subspecies
Subspecies include:[4]
- B. f. dimidiatus — with the red fur more or less entirely replaced with black [3]
- B. f. flavifrons
Ecology
The queen emerges from her hibernation at the end of March and often builds a nest in a disused mouse nest. The first workers appear about a month later. The nest declines at the end of August, and all the inhabitants die, except for the new queens, which hibernate in the earth. The bumblebee feeds on several flowering plants, most commonly those in Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Saxifragaceae, and Lamiaceae.[2]
Distribution
B. flavifrons is found in western North America from British Columbia to Southern California. It reaches east into Idaho, Nevada, and Utah.[5] Earlier (1961), it has been found in Alaska, in the range of B. f. dimidiatus.[4][6]
References
- ^ "Bombus flavifrons Cresson, 1863". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
- ^ a b c "Bombus flavifrons". Strickland Entomological Museum, University of Alberta. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ a b Jonathan Koch, James Strange & Paul Williams (2012). "Bumble Bees of the Western United States" (PDF, 7.56 MB). The Xerces Society. pp. 42–45. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ a b Bumblebee.org . accessed 3.30.2013
- ^ "North American bumblebees". Bumblebee.org. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ "Map of Bombus flavifrons". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 6 February 2013.