Bombus
lapidarius  |
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| Bumble Bees are known to everyone and the various species' make up one of the most familiar group of insects. Whilst some bees are solitary, Bumble Bees are social insects, forming small colonies during the Spring and Summer months. After pairing in the late Summer/Autumn, only the young Queens survive through the Winter to start new colonies the following Spring. But there is a seemingly increasing trend for new colonies to be started by some species, later the same Autumn after pairing and if conditions are favourable. Both Queens and workers are now sometimes recorded during mild Winter days in the south-west UK. Bombus lapidarius is a very easy species to identify. The Queen and workers are entirely black, with a large red patch at the tip of the abdomen. Males (below right photograph) do have two yellow bands on the thorax. | ||
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| UK distribution of Bombus
lapidarius |
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 The UK distribution maps on eakringbirds.com are provided by the National Biodiversity Network (NBN Gateway) Each red square on the map indicates species present in 10km grid squares. Updated September 2011 |
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