Bombus centralis

Bombus centralis, the central bumblebee, is a species of bumble bee found in parts of Canada and the western United States.[2][3]

Bombus centralis
Queen

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Apidae
Genus: Bombus
Subgenus: Pyrobombus
Species:
B. centralis
Binomial name
Bombus centralis

Description

Bombus centralis is a small bumblebee with a long face and proboscis[2] and light brown wings. The queen has a body length between 12.5 and 16 mm (0.49 and 0.63 in) and a wing span of 29 to 33 mm (1.1 to 1.3 in); the males have a length of 10 to 13 mm (0.39 to 0.51 in) and a wing span of 22 to 29 mm (0.87 to 1.14 in), while the workers are 9.5 to 12.5 mm (0.37 to 0.49 in) in length with a wing span of 23 to 28 mm (0.91 to 1.10 in).[4] The colouration of the thorax and anterior part of the abdomen is yellow, while terga (abdominal segments) 3 and 4 (for the females) and 3 to 5 (males) are orange-red. The tail is black; overall the hair is long. Across the thorax is a black, medially located band.[2]

Distribution

The species is distributed from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.[3]

Ecology

The bumblebee lives in prairies or river valleys. The hibernating queens appear in late May and start building a nest, often in disused rodent nests. About a month later, the first workers emerge. The nest declines in September, and all the bees, except the new queens, die.[4] The bees forage on various plant taxa, such as wild onions, rabbitbrush, thistles, goldenbushes, coyote mints, penstemons, and phacelias.[1]

gollark: oh no.
gollark: Fairness.
gollark: ++choice 1000 "lyric" "heavpoot" "gollark"
gollark: Time to run it through my deblur neural network.
gollark: ++choose 1000 "gollark is bees" "heavpoot is bees"

References
  1. Hatfield, R., et al. 2014. Bombus centralis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 04 March 2016.
  2. Jonathan Koch, James Strange & Paul Williams (2012). "Bumble Bees of the Western United States" (PDF, 7.56 MB). The Xerces Society. pp. 34–37. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  3. "North American bumblebees". Bumblebee.org. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  4. "Bombus centralis". Strickland Entomological Museum, University of Alberta. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
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