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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Honey, Bumble, and Digger Bees (Apinae) » Bumble Bees (Bombini) » Bumble Bees (Bombus) » Tricolored Bumble Bee (Bombus ternarius)

Species Bombus ternarius - Tricolored Bumble Bee

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · See Also · Internet References

Bombus ternarius? - Bombus ternarius - female

Bombus rufocinctus? or Bombus melanopygus? - Bombus ternarius - female

Bombus tenarius? - Bombus ternarius - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps)

No Taxon (Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees)

Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)

Subfamily Apinae (Honey, Bumble, and Digger Bees)

Tribe Bombini (Bumble Bees)

Genus Bombus (Bumble Bees)

Species ternarius (Tricolored Bumble Bee)

Other Common Names

Orange-belted Bumble Bee

Red-tailed Bumble Bee (not recommended, as it also refers to Bombus lapidarius, a Eurasian species)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Bombus ornatus

Explanation of Names

ternarius refers to the number 3 - in this case, the bee's 3 colors (red, yellow, black), and is the basis of the common name Tricolored Bumble Bee approved by the Entomological Society of America's Committee on the Common Names of Insects

Size

queen: body length 17-19 mm

male: 9.5-13 mm

worker: 8-13 mm

Identification

first abdominal segment with yellow hair, segments 2 & 3 reddish-orange, segments 5 & 6 black

see detailed description of queen and male at discoverlife.org

Range

Yukon to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia; widespread in the United States but rarely observed south of Pennsylvania

B. melanopygus

26 pinned adult images plus detailed description of queen and male, distribution, seasonality, flower records (discoverlife.org)

common name reference; PDF doc [Tricolored Bumble Bee] (Committee on Common Names of Insects, Entomological Society of America)

link to photos of male genitalia (Natural History Museum, UK)

biology and behavior plus common name reference [Orange-belted Bumble Bee] (U. of Maine)

live adult image (Peter DeVries, U. of Wisconsin)

live adult image (Nicky Davis, Utah)

live adult image and common name reference [Red-tailed Bumble Bee] (David Cappaert, insectimages.org)

Discover Life

Contributed by Joel Kits on 17 April, 2005 - 2:45pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod
Last updated 9 May, 2008 - 5:57pm

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