Species Bombus mixtus - Fuzzy-horned Bumble Bee

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Internet References

Black and Tan Bumble Bee - Bombus mixtus - female

I thought for sure taking a whole bunch of photos of this bee I could ID it but nope.. - Bombus mixtus

common eastern bumblebee snoozes in Japanese maple shade - Bombus mixtus

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 Pyrobombus)

Species mixtus (Fuzzy-horned Bumble Bee)

Other Common Names

Mixed Bumble Bee

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Bombus edwardsii var russulus Frison, 1927

Explanation of Names

Author: Cresson, 1878

Size

Relatively small

Identification

Red tail tip separated by black from pale hairs on T1 and T2 (at least mediobasally) in combination with some admixture of black hairs on the anterior scutum is distinctive. Males have a distinctive patch of dense hairs on basal segments of their flagellum (only visible from certain angles) and this is useful for separating them from frigidus. Also, in mixtus males the red tail tip is separated from yellow basal tergal segments. In mixtus the apicolateral corners of T2 are often black whereas in frigidus all of T2 is yellow.

Range

western North America. Records mapped in the Williams et al. guide from the eastern United States are unprecedented and surely all erroneous. a report in the text from Maritime NB, not represented in the maps, is questionable at best.

Habitat

includes mountain meadows

Food

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

Remarks

Widely distributed and common in western mountains

Internet References

Discover life

Contributed by Sean McCann on 2 May, 2008 - 12:26pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, John S. Ascher
Last updated 6 December, 2017 - 12:07am

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