Bombus franklini (Frison, 1921)
  Apoidea   Apidae   Bombus
Subgenus: Bombus


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IDnature guides Index Williams, Paul H., Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson, and Sheila R. Colla. Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wpzr9.


- has the best modern color guides for identification of both sexes, microscopic identification characters, range and natural history notes.

Gives a common name of Franklin Bumble Bee, but may now be extinct.

Overview 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

Franklin bumble bee

Status: Rare, possibly extinct; last detected in 2006

Select food plant genera: Ceanothus, Centaurea, Eriogonum, Lupinus, Trifolium, Veratrum

Tongue Length: Short

Distribution: Restricted to Klamath Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California.

Can be confused with B. occidentalis or B. vosnesenskii

Possibly the most narrowly distributed bumble bee in the world.

Yellow hair on thorax extending posteriorly beyond wing bases (U-shaped), scutellum and T1-4 black, T5 black with white hairs at least on extreme lateral margins.

Mid leg basitarsus with the distal posterior corner rounded. Cheek length distinctly shorter than broad. Hair on the center of face yellow. On the side of the thorax, the lower anterior surface with predominantly black hair, corbicular fringes black. Hair length short and even.

Identification Extracted from Bumble Bees and Cuckoo Bumble Bees of California by Thorp, R. (1983).


Discussion. B. franklini is most closely related to B. occidentals and is considered by Milliron (1971) to be conspecific with it. They differ principally in color pattern: B. franklini is unique in having the scutum yellow anteriorly and laterally, with a broad U-shaped emargination of black mesoposteriorly, and the scutellum and first four metasomal tergites black. Queens of B. franklini tend to be larger, with the metasoma more elongate than B. occidentals. Thorp (1970) discussed the putative type locality for B. Franklini and pointed out the narrow endemism of this bee. We have collected it at several localities sympatrically with B. occidentalis but have not found intergrades between them. Since Milliron (1971) does not present evidence to support his synonymy and our evidence supports their distinctness, we consider them as separate species. Color patterns of each caste are uniform.

Names Scientific source:



References Williams, Paul H., Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson, and Sheila R. Colla. Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wpzr9.

Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Fabaceae  Lupinus @ AMNH_BEE (5)

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