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Bombus rufocinctus Cresson, 1863 Bombus iridis Cockerell and Porter, 1899; Bombus prunellae Cockerell and Porter, 1899; Bombus iridis var phaceliae Cockerell, 1906; Bombus rufocinctus var astragali Cockerell, 1907; Bombus hyperboreus var albertensis Cockerell, 1909; Bombus (Bombias) mexicensis Franklin, 1911; Bombus henshawi Franklin, 1913; Bombus rufocinctus var castoris Cockerell, 1915; Bombus rufocinctus var sladeni Frison, 1926, nomen nudum

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Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, face	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, top	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, face	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, top	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, face	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, top	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, female, wing
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, male, face	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, male, side
Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, male, top	Smithsonian Institution, Entomology Department Bombus rufocinctus, male, wing
© Photographer/source queen front UGCA195813_01	© Photographer/source queen front top UGCA195813_02
© Photographer/source queen top UGCA195813_03	© Photographer/source queen side UGCA195813_04
© Photographer/source queen rear UGCA195813_05	© Photographer/source queen rear tip UGCA195813_06
© Photographer/source male front UGCA195814_01	© Photographer/source male front top UGCA195814_02
© Photographer/source male top UGCA195814_03	© Photographer/source male side UGCA195814_04
© Photographer/source male rear UGCA195814_05	© Photographer/source male rear tip UGCA195814_06
© Photographer/source worker front UGCA195815_01	© Photographer/source worker front top UGCA195815_02
© Photographer/source worker top UGCA195815_03	© Photographer/source worker side UGCA195815_04
© Photographer/source worker rear UGCA195815_05	© Photographer/source worker rear tip UGCA195815_06

Overview

Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152. QUEEN—Length 16-18 mm., breadth of abdomen 8.5 mm.; black, including legs, spurs and tegulae; wings rather deeply infuscated, veins brownish to piceous; pubescence copious but rather short, largely black on face and cheeks, but with some intermixed, shorter light hairs above antennae, cheeks with some grayish hairs intermixed with the black; vertex with a tuft of pale yellowish hairs medially, becoming black on each side, occiput with a dense, pale yellowish fringe; pubescence bright yellow on pronotum, tubercles, anterior third of scutum, entire scutellum, pleura and propodeum in large part, the scutum bare medially, with black pubescence over posterior two-thirds, the thoracic venter narrowly fuscous pubescent beneath, and legs clothed with largely black hairs, with some paler hairs on the inferior fringe of hind femora, the corbicular fringe of elongate. largely black hairs, basitarsi clothed beneath with brownish pubescence, upper surface nearly bare but with very minute, pale pruinose hairs that do not hide surface; abdominal terga 1 and 4 with bright yellow pubescence, 2 with yellow pubescence medially and across the base, but with elongate fulvous hairs apically and laterally, 3 with largely fulvous hairs which overlie tergum 4 which is largely yellow pubescent; terga 5 and 6 black pubescent but with dense yellow fringes on each side of 5; clypeus very finely and rather closely punctate laterally and above, a broad median area shining and nearly impunctate, with only very minute or widely scattered punctures; labrum slightly elevated at base, this broadly interrupted medially by a quite deep impression, its apical margin rounded and slightly elevated above the apical margin on each side, and fringed apically with ochraceous hairs; apex of mandible with a pair of distinct notches toward the upper angle, otherwise entire, outer face rather smooth, with barely evident, minute punctures; malar space smooth and shining, without evident punctures, its length hardly more than half the basal width of mandible, hardly more than one-eighth the length of the eye; median area of face with rather deep and distinct but quite close punctures, intervening spaces with more minute and shallow punctures, surface shining and impunctate around ocelli; the vertex densely punctate medially beneath the pubescent tuft, becoming somewhat more distinctly but very closely punctate laterally; lateral ocelli somewhat nearer eyes than to each other and nearer each other than to margin of vertex; antennal scape considerably more than half the total length of flagellum, basal segment of flagellum only slightly shorter than segments 2 and 3 combined, these nearly equal in length; hind basitarsi quite broad, the length only about twice the greatest breadth; tergum 6 shining and minutely punctate, punctures becoming somewhat closer toward margins, narrowly rounded at apex. WORKER—Length 11-12.5 mm., breadth of abdomen 5-5.5 mm.; quite similar to queen but pubescence relatively more elongate, with considerable variation in the pattern of pubescence on abdominal terga, with some black pubescence evident on the more median terga in some specimens. MALE—Length 12-13 mm., breadth of abdomen 5.5-6 mm.; black, apical segments of legs and tegulae somewhat more piceous, mid and hind spurs reddish-piceous; wings rather lightly infuscated, veins testaceous to piceous; apical margins of abdominal terga narrowly testaceous-hyaline; pubescence copious and erect, largely yellow on cheeks below, on clypeus and on vertex medially, black around and above antennae and along margins of eyes, on cheeks above and vertex laterally, with a few black hairs overlying ocelli; pubescence bright yellow on pronotum, anterior third of scutum, around tubercles, over most of pleura. and on scutellum and propodeum; posterior two-thirds of scutum with conspicuous black pubescence, basal segments of legs, including femora, more or less yellow pubescent, the lower margin of femora rather densely fringed with yellowish hairs, tibiae more black pubescent, with rather conspicuous posterior fringes, hind tibiae very narrowly fringed with black anteriorly, and with more elongate, black hairs posteriorly; basitarsi with pale brownish pubescence beneath, with somewhat darker pubescence above on front and middle legs, hind pair with a rather conspicuous fringe of elongate dark hairs posteriorly; abdominal terga 1, 2, 5 and 6 with conspicuous yellow pubescence, 3, 4 and 7 largely black; clypeus very finely and rather closely punctate beneath the dense pubescence, but median apical area becoming shining and largely impunctate; labrum broadly truncate, shining and impunctate in large part, with only a few scattered, irregular punctures; mandibles slender apically, bi-dentate, outer face very densely tomentose, hiding surface, and fringed beneath with long curled hairs; malar space smooth and shining, impunctate, very short, no more than half basal width of mandibles, and about one-tenth length of eye; median area of face finely and closely but not densely punctate, punctures becoming more distinct and sparse toward ocelli, space between ocelli and eyes smooth and impunctate; punctures very close and fine but not crowded on vertex medially, becoming somewhat more minute and irregular laterally; ocelli slightly below supraorbit1 line, considerably near each other than to margin of vertex, and much nearer eyes than to each other; antennal scape much less than half total length of flagellum, basal segment of flagellum about equal to segment 3, segment 2 considerably shorter, not much longer than broad; hind tibiae strongly convex but rather narrow, shining and largely impunctate on outer surface, hind basitarsus broad, length not much greater than twice the maximum breadth; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature as shown (fig. 132). DISTRIBUTION—Pacific Coast to Michigan, Quebec and Maine, July to October.

Names

Scientific source:       Discover Life Apoidea species guide, Ascher et al., 2007       Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Updated: 2010-02-09 16:55:10 gmt

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