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Bombus insularis (Smith, 1861)
Bombus interruptus_homonym Greene, 1858; Psithyrus suckleyi_homonym Fletcher and Gibson, 1909, nomen nudum; Psithyrus consultus Franklin, 1913, replacement name; Psithyrus bicolor Franklin, 1913, probable synonym; Bombus bicolor_homonym (Franklin, 1913), probable synonym; Apathus insularis Smith, 1861; Apathus insularis var b Cresson, 1863; Psithyrus crawfordi Franklin, 1913; Psithyrus insularis (Smith, 1861)

Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Apidae   Bombus
Subgenus: Psithyrus

Bombus insularis, F, back, Park Co, WY
© Copyright source/photographer · 7
Bombus insularis, F, back, Park Co, WY

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Bombus insularis, F, face, Park Co, WY
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Bombus insularis, F, face, Park Co, WY
Bombus insularis FEM
© Copyright Laurence Packer 2014 · 7
Bombus insularis FEM

Bombus insularis MALE mm - f
© Copyright Laurence Packer 2014 · 7
Bombus insularis MALE mm - f
Bombus insularis, Diane Wilson
Diane Wilson · 5
Bombus insularis, Diane Wilson

Bombus insularis, f, back, Yosemite, CA
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Bombus insularis, f, back, Yosemite, CA
Bombus insularis, f, face, Yosemite, CA
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Bombus insularis, f, face, Yosemite, CA

Bombus insularis, f, right, Yosemite, CA
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Bombus insularis, f, right, Yosemite, CA
Bombus insularis, F, back, Park Co, WY
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Bombus insularis, F, back, Park Co, WY

Bombus insularis, F, face, Park Co, WY
© Copyright source/photographer · 5
Bombus insularis, F, face, Park Co, WY
Bombus insularis, F, side, Park Co, WY
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Bombus insularis, F, side, Park Co, WY

Bombus insularis, Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bee
© Copyright John Ascher, 2006-2014 · 4
Bombus insularis, Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bee
Bombus insularis, Barcode of Life Data Systems
Barcode of Life Data Systems · 1
Bombus insularis, Barcode of Life Data Systems

UGCA196034 01.male_front.320.jpg
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male front
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UGCA196034 02.male_front_top.320.jpg
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male front top
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UGCA196034 03.male_top.320.jpg
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male top
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UGCA196034 04.male_side.320.jpg
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male side
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UGCA196034 05.male_rear.320.jpg
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male rear
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UGCA196034 06.male_rear_tip.320.jpg
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male rear tip
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UGCA196035 01.queen_front.320.jpg
© Photographer/source
queen front
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UGCA196035 02.queen_front_top.320.jpg
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queen front top
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UGCA196035 03.queen_top.320.jpg
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queen top
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UGCA196035 04.queen_side.320.jpg
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queen side
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UGCA196035 05.queen_rear.320.jpg
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queen rear
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queen rear tip
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Overview
Reprinted with permission from: Mitchell, T.B. 1962 Bees of the Eastern United States. North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin No. 152.


FEMALE—Length 16-19 mm., breadth of abdomen 8-9 mm.; black, the tarsi piceous, tegulae brownish-testaceous, wings rather lightly infuscated, veins testaceous to blackish; face and cheeks largely black pubescent, but with erect, rather copious, yellowish pubescence between and above the antennae and on vertex; pubescence of thorax long and copious, pale yellowish in large part, but venter and posterior half of scutum largely black pubescent; legs with short, largely black pubescence; abdominal terga 1 and 2 with dense black pubescence, 3 and 4 yellow pubescent laterally but black medially, 5 largely black, but with some elongate, yellowish hairs at each extreme side, tergum 6 nearly bare; clypeus quite coarsely, closely and deeply punctate laterally, more finely so along upper margin, median apical area shining, with very minute and sparse punctures; labrum slightly excavated medially, basal area on each side triangularly produced, the projecting lip beyond this medially with a slightly elevated margin, the apical margin rather broadly rounded and considerably depressed; apex of mandible with a very slight, median notch, outer surface shining, with only extremely minute, scattered and obscure punctures evident; malar space shining, very irregularly and minutely punctate, median length about two-thirds basal width of mandible, and about one-third length of eye; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and each other, distance to margin of vertex about twice as great; scape slightly more than half the length of the flagellum, segments 1 and 3 of flagellum about equal, segment 2 considerably shorter and slightly broader than long; sternum 6 shining, rather broadly rounded apically, strongly swollen on each side medially, with a quite dense, apical fringe of very short, brownish hairs.

MALE—Length 13-16 mm., breadth of abdomen 4-5.5 mm.; black, apical tarsal segments and spurs more piceous; tegulae brownish-testaceous; wings uniformly but lightly infuscated, veins testaceous to piceous; vertex with a median patch of elongate, yellow pubescence and a small amount of yellow just above antennae medially, head otherwise with copious and elongate, black pubescence; posterior half of scutum black pubescent, with a small amount of black on scutellum medially, the venter of thorax and lateral margins of propodeum black in part, otherwise pleura, scutum anteriorly, scutellum posteriorly and posterior face of propodeum with elongate, copious, yellow pubescence; legs black pubescent basally, becoming somewhat paler on the tarsal segments, the posterior fringes of sparse, elongate, pale hairs; abdominal terga 1-4 with copious, rather elongate, yellowish pubescence, 5-7 with black, a small amount of yellow on 6 laterally; clypeus finely, closely and deeply punctate in general, only the apical margin narrowly shining and impunctate medially; labrum shining, punctures minute, apical margin broadly subtruncate, only slightly depressed, with a transverse fringe of short, erect, black hairs; mandibles short and slender, distinctly bidentate apically, outer surface quite densely pubescent, lower margin with a fringe of elongate, more or less curved, fuscous hairs; malar space shining, with only very minute, scattered punctures, median length somewhat less than basal width of mandibles about one-fifth length of eye; lateral ocelli subequally distant from eyes and each other, distance to margin of vertex only slightly greater; punctures of face very fine and densely crowded, vertex medially with densely crowded but rather fine striate punctures medially, lateral punctures close but more rounded, area adjacent to each lateral ocellus polished and impunctate; scutum with a narrow, median area posteriorly where the surface is shining and sparsely punctate, punctures otherwise quite uniformly close on scutum, scutellum and pleura; sterna 7 and 8 and genital armature similar to variabilis (fig. 134).

DISTRIBUTION—Although widespread in Canada and the Northern United States, this species has been rare in collections received for study. Specimens have been identified only from New Brunswick and New York, May to August.

HOST — Plath (1934), quoting Sladen. gives Bombus flavifrons as the host of insularis. Since the ranges of these two species do not entirely coincide, it seems evident that it will select some other species of Bombus as well.

Identification
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

Indiscriminate cuckoo bumble bee

Status: Common

Select food plant genera: Erigeron, Solidago, Aster, Wyethia, Senecio, Trifolium

Tongue Length: Short

Hosts: B. rufocinctus, B. ternarius, B. terricola, B. occidentalis, B. nevadensis, B. californicus, and B. appositus

Distribution: Pacific coast east to New England; primarily in states bordering Canada

Can be confused with B. fernaldae

Face yellow, a black band between the wing bases, tail with some yellow.

Hind tibia with outer surface convex and densely hairy. Hair of the face with a dense yellow patch above the base of the antenna, sometimes some yellow below the base of the antenna but predominantly black, black hair forming a band between the wing bases, sides of the thorax yellow anteriorly but black ventrally and posteriorly, T3 usually with black hair along the entire midline but yellow laterally, T4 extensively yellow laterally. Wings light brown

Extracted from: Laverty T.M., & Harder L.D., (1988). The Bumble Bees of Eastern Canada. Can. Ent. 120: 965-987.

Description. Queen small to medium; male medium. Head round; malar space about square. Tongue short. Colour as in Figure 25. Some specimens of both sexes have black and yellow hairs intermixed around wing bases. In some females, the facial pile is mostly yellow; in males, the extent of yellow fringes on T6 and T7 varies.


Names
Scientific source:

Supported by

Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Amaryllidaceae  Allium @ LACM_ENTB (1)
Anacardiaceae  Rhus @ EMEC (1)
Apocynaceae  Asclepias @ EMEC (1)
Asteraceae  Agoseris glauca @ BBSL (1); RMBL_ENT (1)

Anaphalis margaritacea @ BBSL (3)

Aster foliaceus @ BBSL (1)

Aster sp @ BBSL (17)

Aster @ AMNH_BEE (2)

Baccharis @ LACM_ENTB (1)

Centaurea repens @ BBSL__JPS (1)

Centaurea @ AMNH_BEE (3)

Chrysopsis villosa @ BBSL (1)

Chrysothamnus parryi @ DART_ENT (1); RMBL_ENT (1)

Chrysothamnus sp @ BBSL__JPS (2); BBSL (1)

Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus @ EMEC (1)

Cirsium arvense @ BBSL (3)

Cirsium hookerianum @ BBSL (1)

Cirsium sp @ BBSL__JPS (3); BBSL (3)

Cirsium vulgare @ BBSL (2)

Cirsium @ UCRC_ENT (1); EMEC (30)

Ericameria? @ EMEC (1)

Erigeron ramosus @ UCRC_ENT (1)

Erigeron speciosus @ BBSL (11)

Grindelia squarrosa @ BBSL (1)

Helenium bigelovii @ UCRC_ENT (6)

Heliomeris multiflora @ RMBL_ENT (44)

Heliomeris villosa @ RMBL_ENT (7)

Heterotheca villosa @ RMBL_ENT (17)

Hymenoxys hoopesii @ RMBL_ENT (15)

Microseris nutans @ BBSL (3)

Senecio clarkianus @ UCRC_ENT (1)

Senecio dimorphophyllus @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Senecio lugens @ UCRC_ENT (7)

Senecio perplexus @ EMEC (1)

Senecio serra @ BBSL (2)

Senecio sp @ BBSL__JPS (1)

Senecio triangularis @ BBSL (1)

Senecio @ UCRC_ENT (3)

Solidago sp @ BBSL (2)

Solidago @ AMNH_BEE (1); UCRC_ENT (1); EMEC (3)

Taraxacum officinale @ BBSL (8); I_JSA (1)

Taraxacum @ RMBL_ENT (5)

Wyethia amplexicaulis @ BBSL (1); RMBL_ENT (1)

Wyethia @ AMNH_BEE (1); EMEC (5)
Boraginaceae  Eriodictyon @ AMNH_BEE (1)

Phacelia heterophylla @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Rubus idaeus @ UCRC_ENT (1)
Brassicaceae  Brassica rapa @ LACM_ENTB (2)

Smelowskia calycina @ BBSL (6)
Caprifoliaceae  Symphoricarpos albus @ BBSL (3)
Crassulaceae  Sedum lanceolatum @ BBSL (1)
Ericaceae  Arctostaphylos @ EMEC (2)
Fabaceae  Hedysarum boreale @ BBSL (2)

Lupinus sp @ BBSL (1)

Medicago sativa @ BBSL (3)

Melilotus alba @ BBSL (3)

Melilotus albus @ EMEC (2)

Melilotus officinalis @ EMEC (1)

Melilotus sp @ BBSL (1)

Trifolium pratense @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Trifolium repens @ BBSL (6)

Trifolium sp @ BBSL (7)

Trifolium @ EMEC (2)

Vicia sp @ BBSL (13)

Vicia @ EMEC (5)
Gentianaceae  Frasera speciosa @ AMNH_BEE (1)

Gentiana parryi @ RMBL_ENT (1)
Geraniaceae  Geranium fremontii @ BBSL (1)

Geranium sp @ BBSL (3)
Grossulariaceae  Ribes @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Iridaceae  Iris missouriensis @ UCRC_ENT (1); EMEC (1)
Lamiaceae  Agastache sp @ BBSL (3)

Monarda sp @ BBSL (1)

Monardella @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Larson, l.  2023 @ JRYA__NOCA (1)
Liliaceae  Allium sp @ BBSL (1)
Malvaceae  Alcea rosea @ UCRC_ENT (1)

Sidalcea oregana @ BBSL (1)
Onagraceae  Chamerion angustifolium @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Epilobium angustifolium @ BBSL (1)

Epilobium parviflorum @ BBSL (16)

Epilobium sp @ BBSL (1)
Plantaginaceae  Linaria vulgaris @ RMBL_ENT (1)

Penstemon @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Polygonaceae  Eriogonum nudum @ EMEC (2)

Eriogonum @ AMNH_BEE (1); EMEC (18)
Rosaceae  Potentilla sp @ BBSL (2)

Prunus sp @ BBSL (1)

Rosa sp @ BBSL (1)
Rykken, j.  1322 @ JRYA__NOCA (3)

1587 @ JRYA__NOCA (1)

1821 @ JRYA__NOCA (4)

1871 @ JRYA__NOCA (1)

1927 @ JRYA__NOCA (3)

2010 @ JRYA__NOCA (1)

725 @ JRYA__NOCA (1)
Salicaceae  Salix @ AMNH_BEE (1)
Saxifragaceae  Ribes @ UCRC_ENT (1)
Scrophulariaceae  Penstemon confertus @ BBSL (5)

Penstemon humilis @ BBSL (1)

Penstemon washingtonensis @ BBSL (4)
_  Asteraceae sp @ BBSL__JPS (1)

Calyptridium umbellatum @ BBSL__JPS (1)

Withheld @ BBSL__YOSE (186); BBSL (344); BBSL__ZION (6)

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Updated: 2024-03-19 08:10:00 gmt
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