Bombus
vestalis  |
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| Bombus vestalis is one of the Cuckoo Bees, so called because of their habit of finding a nest of their host species and infiltrating it. Cuckoo Bees have no worker caste, only males (Drones) in late Summer/Autumn and females (Queens) Only the young Bombus vestalis Queens over-winter and emerge later than their hosts the following Spring, to take over a nest of Bombus terrestis. The existing Bombus terrestis Queen is usually killed and the Bombus vestalis Queen takes over the colony and produces her own eggs, which the Bombus terrestis workers tend, till new males and females emerge during the Summer months. This is a common species. | ||
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| UK distribution of Bombus
vestalis |
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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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