Forest Cuckoo Bumble Bee

Appearance

This is a small bumblebee; the queen has a body length of 15 mm and the male one of 14 mm. The head is round, and the proboscis is short. Its fur is black with a yellow collar and a white tail. Sometimes the bumblebee can have a few pale hairs on top of its head, its scutellum, and/or on its tergite. The male is variably melanistic. Those rarely found in northern Scotland have an abdomen that is yellow instead of white.

Distribution

The forest cuckoo bumblebee can be found throughout most of Europe from the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula to southern Italy, from Greece in the south to beyond the Arctic Circle in the north, and from Ireland in the west to the easternmost part of Russia. They are found throughout Britain, but are absent in sections of eastern Scotland, the Scilly Isles, and Shetland.

Most "Bombus sylvestris" can be found in post-industrial, mineral extraction sites and spoil heaps, gardens, parks, woodlands, and deciduous forests, which is why they get their nickname of the forest cuckoo bumblebee.

Behavior

Since cuckoo bumblebees do not need to supply resources to their young, they do not tend to forage as aggressively or industriously as worker and queen bumblebees. Before entering a nest, cuckoo bumblebees bees tend to behave similar to male bumblebees—drinking nectar until full and then resting until hungry again.

Habitat

The forest cuckoo bumblebee can be found throughout most of Europe from the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula to southern Italy, from Greece in the south to beyond the Arctic Circle in the north, and from Ireland in the west to the easternmost part of Russia. They are found throughout Britain, but are absent in sections of eastern Scotland, the Scilly Isles, and Shetland.

Most "Bombus sylvestris" can be found in post-industrial, mineral extraction sites and spoil heaps, gardens, parks, woodlands, and deciduous forests, which is why they get their nickname of the forest cuckoo bumblebee.

Food

The Forest cuckoo bee can be found foraging on white deadnettler, globe thistle, white clover, buttercup, sallow, bramble, lavender, and viper's bugloss, along with other specimens.