Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Subgenus Bombias

Bombus [auricomus?] ID Request - Bombus auricomus - female NM Bee - Bombus nevadensis Bee (behind) - Bombus nevadensis Large bee - Bombus nevadensis bumblebee - Bombus auricomus Bumble Bee - Bombus auricomus Bumble Bee ID - Bombus auricomus - female Bombus spp (Redstone, CO 31MAY2023) - Bombus nevadensis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees)
Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)
Subfamily Apinae (Honey, Bumble, Longhorn, Orchid, and Digger Bees)
Tribe Bombini (Bumble Bees)
Genus Bombus (Bumble Bees)
No Taxon Subgenus Bombias
Explanation of Names
Bombias Robertson 1903
Numbers
2 spp. in our area + 1 sp. in the Palaearctic (3 spp. total)(1)
Identification
Males have conspicuously large eyes and modified antennae. Females with ocelli low on face. Midleg with sharp angle.
Range
holarctic group; B. auricomus occurs mostly east of the Rockies, while B. nevadensis occurs in Western North America. Records of B. nevadensis from eastern North America pertain to auricomus, which has often been considered a mere subspecies (map)(1)
Habitat
Open grasslands and mountain meadows(2)
Season
Late-emerging
Remarks
Both species prefer open habitats so have no doubt declined due to loss of grasslands and, in areas such as the Northeastern United States, due to regrowth of forests. Their mating and nesting behavior is unusual reflecting their phylogenetic position outside (sister to) all other North American species.