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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea (clade Anthophila) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Honey, Bumble, Longhorn, Orchid, and Digger Bees (Apinae) » Bumble Bees (Bombini) » Bumble Bees (Bombus) » Subgenus Subterraneobombus (Bombus Subgenus Subterraneobombus) » White-shouldered Bumble Bee (Bombus appositus)

Species Bombus appositus - White-shouldered Bumble Bee

Bombus appositus visiting Corydalis caseana - Bombus appositus - female

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 Subterraneobombus)

Species appositus (White-shouldered Bumble Bee)

Other Common Names

Another proposed common name, Mountain Bumble Bee, is not optimal as it better applies to other species such as Bombus monticola of the Old World.

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Bombus appositus Cresson, 1878

Size

Large

Identification

Similar to Bombus borealis but in appositus the anterior of the scutum is usually noticeably paler than the posterio of the scutum. Unlike fervidus the facial hairs are extensively yellow. Beware of worn centralis in which T3-T4 can appear yellowish rather than red.

Range

Western mountains, typically at higher elevations, at least in the southern part of its range.

Disjunct records from southern Arizona mapped as unverified data in the Williams et al. guide were long ago established to be definitely erroneous by R. W. Thorp.

Habitat

Includes mountain meadows and slopes

Food

The Hosts section of its Discover Life species page lists known floral associations based on specimen records and images.

Internet References

Discover Life

Contributed by Joe, Entomologist (in training) on 10 May, 2007 - 9:22pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, John S. Ascher
Last updated 3 October, 2017 - 7:25am

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