I have started to look at bumblebees a bit more closely this year and I've found that it's not as simple as if first appears. I found a couple of bumblebees today that resembled
B. hortorum but something seemed a little different to the one's I've seen this year. I hoped that it might be
B. jonellus and so I took a couple of photo's in hope that I could shore up the id later. Having consulted the books I can see that there are 2 possibilities. Males of
B. lucorum and
B. jonellus both show yellow hairs on the face as well as 2 bands of yellow on the thorax and 1 on the abdomen which also has a white tip.
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The best separating feature for these species is that
B. jonellus has long hairs on the dorsal edge of the hind metatarsus. The photo below seems to show these long hairs
+5Jul10.jpg)
I would be very grateful if anyone could confirm whether I have made the correct identification of this bumblebee.
+5Jul10.jpg)
+5Jul10.jpg)
I would be very grateful if anyone could confirm whether I have made the correct identification of this bumblebee.
5 comments:
Mark I have had a good look and can't make out the hairs well enough to be sure. Although the face looks long enough to be jonellus, I'm not sure. What you need is a glass pot, some cotton wool to wedge the bee into the bottom of the pot, and a hand lens so you can examine the critical features. I do this in the field and release the bees unharmed - works a treat. Trck is to do it after you've taken a few shots.
Thanks Barry. I'll give it a go. I'm amazed at the lengths you have to go to, to separate some of these species.
Apart from always using a queen cage [a bit of beekeeping kit] avalable from Thornes Beekeeping because I can now use it one handed and use a lens with the other hand as opposed to a glass tube in one hand and a cotton wool plug in other, I think the answer to your question is obvious after a good sunday lunch, and it is all down to two diagnostic features in photograph 2.
Bumblebee almost taking off and in focus well done Mark. The head is more heart shaped than B. hortorum which is longer and if my portion of Bordeaux is not deceiving me this bee has a short tongue whereas B. hortorum is a long-tongued species. Therefore I plum for jonellus.
Thanks Nigel. I see B. Hortorum regularly in the garden and its tongue is very noticeable, almost unbelievable. I am very glad that you have confirmed this bumblebee as B. jonellus because this is the one I most wanted to see this year and is a first for me.
Some useful tips there Nigel, especially that regarding the Bordeaux - I'll bear that in mind next time I take to the field ;o)
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