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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees » Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees (Apidae) » Honey, Bumble, Long-horned, Orchid, and Digger Bees (Apinae) » Bumble Bees (Bombini) » Bumble Bees (Bombus) » Subgenus Psithyrus (Bombus Subgenus Psithyrus)

Subgenus Psithyrus

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References · Works Cited
Anthophora sp. ?? - Bombus insularis - male Bombus bifarius or occidentalis? - Bombus insularis - female Bombus for ID - Bombus insularis - female Mystery bumble bee - Bombus fernaldae - female Bombus - Bombus fernaldae Bumblebee - Bombus insularis - male Cuckoo Bumble Bee on Common Milkweed - Bombus fernaldae Possible Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee in New Brunswick - Bombus citrinus
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 (Anthophila (Apoidea) - Bees)
Family Apidae (Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees)
Subfamily Apinae (Honey, Bumble, Long-horned, Orchid, and Digger Bees)
Tribe Bombini (Bumble Bees)
Genus Bombus (Bumble Bees)
No Taxon Subgenus Psithyrus
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
used to be treated as a separate genus (discussion + list and distribution of world spp.)(1)
Numbers
6 spp. in our area, 30 spp. total(2)
Size
Males are much smaller than females.
Identification
Females differ from those of all other Bombus in having the outer surface of the hind tibia convex and densely hairy (flat or concave and largely bare in other, pollen-collecting Bombus). Males have small heads and often have conspicuous bare patches on the apical terga medially.
Range
holarctic, most diverse in Eurasia; in our area, widespread: 4 spp. are transcontinental in the north and range south along the Rockies (except B. ashtoni), B. citrinus ne. US + adjacent Canada, B. variabilis e. half of the US (+QC) to AZ in the south(2)
Food
Social parasites of other bumble bees.
Life Cycle
There is no worker caste, the females invade Bombus nests and lay eggs there to be reared by the hosts(1)
Internet References
Natural History Museum
Mol.Phylogent. Evol. A phylogenetic analysis of cuckoo bumblebees (Psithyrus, Lepeletier) and bumblebees (Bombus, Latreille) inferred from sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I.
Works Cited
1.Bombus bumblebees of the world
2.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2017) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 18 November, 2008 - 3:49pm
Additional contributions by Ted Kropiewnicki, John S. Ascher, v belov
Last updated 28 November, 2015 - 5:01pm

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