Extracted from Jonathan Koch, James Strange,Paul Williams.2012. Bumble Bees of the Western United States. A product of the U.S. Forest Service and the Pollinator Partnership
with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Distribution: Sierra-Cascade Crest east to the Colorado
Rocky Mountains and Black Hills; south into New Mexico and
Arizona; north into Canada
Can be confused with B. bifarius, B. sylvicola, B. melanopygus,
and B. rufocinctus
Thorax anterior to distinct black band between wing
bases yellow, scutellum, T1 and T4 yellow, T2-3
orange, T5 black.
Mid leg basitarsus with the distal posterior corner
rounded. Cheek length as long as broad. Hair of the
face and top of head completely yellow. On the side of
the thorax, the lower anterior surface with yellow hair,
corbicular fringes black. Hair length medium and even.
Extracted from Wallace E. LaBerge and Morgan C. Webb. (1962). The Bumblebees of Nebraska (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Bombinae). University of Nebraska College of Agriculture.
T his handsome spccics is confi ned to the weSlernll10sl counlics of Nebraska, where il is relalively abundalll.
Females: I-lead hairs black with abundanl whilC LO yellow pilc surrounding arllcnnal fossae and ven ex Wilh abundanl ycllo\\' pilc; dlOrax with sides yellow above and anlcriorl y. black on lower and poslerior pans, dorsum yellow wilh a broad inlcralar band of black, sculcllum wilhoul black hairs: L ergum I wiLh ycllow hairs: lcrga 2 and 3 wilh orange or orange-red hair bands (rarely Llded to dull yellow-orangc); lergum L J wilh yellow hairs: lcrga 5 and G wilh bli\Ialcs: H ead wiLlI hairs ycllow. black oflell bClwecn apices of compound eyes and on upper gular arcas: lhorax wilh hairs yellow except inleralar band of black which is oftcn reduced LO large poslcromcdian patch of black on mCSOSClllllm; lergum I wilh ycllow pile; lcrga 2 and 3 with orange or orange-red pile; lcrga 4 and 5 with ytllow pile (lcrgulTI 5 ohen wilh black pile medially or apicomedially); lcrga (j and 7 with black pilc, oflcn pale I.Hera lly; legs wilh hairs black, Oliler surfaccs libiae bare apicomcdially or almosl so; cycs 110l swollen: ocelli placed on supraorbital linc; malar spacc aboUl as long as broad: rirsl flagellar segment dislincLl y shon eI' than lhird, sligluly longer lhan second.
Extracted from Bumble Bees and Cuckoo Bumble Bees of California by Thorp, R. (1983).
Discussion. B. huntii belongs to the group of species which includes B. btfarius and vosnesenskii, and can be separated from both by the bright red hair covering its metasomal tergites 2 and 3, and the completely yellow hair of the scutellum. This species is extremely uniform in color pat-tern, with only occasional specimens having the red metasomal hairs fading to yellowish.
Nests of this species are discussed by Medler (1959) and Hobbs (1967b).
