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

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Species Bombus ternarius - Tricolored Bumble Bee

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)
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
Range
Yukon to Nova Scotia, south to Georgia; widespread in the United States but rarely observed south of Pennsylvania
Season
May to October
Internet References
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)