Orange-belted bumblebee

Taxobox
name = Orange-belted bumblebee

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image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
familia = Apidae
subfamilia = Apinae
genus = "Bombus"
species = "B. ternarius"
binomial = "Bombus ternarius"
binomial_authority = Say, 1837

The orange-belted bumblebee ("Bombus ternarius") is a yellow, orange and black bumblebee that is commonly found throughout the United States and parts of Canada. [cite web| author=University of Maine Cooperative Extension| title=Understanding Native Bees, the Great Pollinators: Enhancing Their Habitat in Maine| url=http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/7153.htm| accessdate=2006-08-30]

Description

A small, fairly slender bumblebee. The queen is 17–19 millimetres long, the worker 8–13 millimetres and the drone 9.5–13 millimetres.

The queen and the workers are black on the head, with a few pale yellow hairs. The thorax and the first abdominal segment are yellow, abdominal segments 2 to 3 are orange, and the rest of the abdomen is black.

The drone has a yellow head with a few black hairs. The coloration of the thorax and abdomen is similar to that of the females, with the exception that the abdominal segment 4 is yellow and the last abdominal segments are yellow on the sides. The fur of the drone is longer than that of the females. [http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Bombus+ternarius American Museum of Natural History] ]

Food sources

Major plants visited include "Rubus", goldenrods, "Vaccinium" and milkweeds.

References