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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) » Subgenus Psithyrus (Bombus Subgenus Psithyrus)

Subgenus Psithyrus

Anthophora sp. ?? - Bombus insularis - male Bumblebee - Bombus fernaldae - male Bumble Bee - Bombus fernaldae - male Cuckoo Bumblebee - Bombus citrinus - male Bombus unknown - Bombus citrinus Bumble Bee and Dandelion - Bombus insularis Bombus suckleyi - Bombus suckleyi - female Bombus sp. 4 - Bombus insularis - 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)
No Taxon Subgenus Psithyrus
Numbers
Six species according to Nearctica.
30 species listed at Natural History Museum in the Palearctic and Nearctic.
Identification
Females differ from those of all other Bombus in having the outer surface of the hind tibia convex and hairy (flat or concave and largely bare in Bombus).

Males are easily distinguished by their smaller size.
Habitat
Parasites of other Bombus
Life Cycle
There is no worker caste, the females invade the nests of Bombus and lay their eggs there to be reared by the hosts.
Remarks
Originally it was considered a separate genus from Bombus.
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 18 November, 2008 - 3:49pm
Additional contributions by Ted Kropiewnicki
Last updated 17 March, 2009 - 4:59pm

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