Bumble bees

Definition

Members of the genus Bombus (family Apidae), a group of large, robust, densely hairy bees characterized by conspicuous color patterns of black, yellow, orange, or white bands. Bumble bees are primitively eusocial, with colonies typically founded by a single queen in spring and persisting through one season in temperate regions. They possess a corbicula (pollen basket) on the hind tibia and are among the most important pollinators of wildflowers and crops in cooler, higher-latitude, and higher-elevation habitats where honey bees are less active. Approximately 250 species occur primarily in the Northern Hemisphere.

Etymology

From Middle English 'bumble' (to boom, buzz, or hum) + 'bee', referring to the loud, resonant flight sound produced by their large, rapidly beating wings.

Example

Bombus occidentalis, the western bumble bee, was once among the most common bumble bees in western North America but has undergone dramatic population declines in parts of its range since the late 1990s, prompting conservation concern and research into potential causes including pathogen spillover from commercial bumble bee rearing operations.

Synonyms

• bumblebee
• humble-bee

Related Terms

• Bombus
• Apidae
• corbicula
• eusociality
• pollination
• social parasitism
• cuckoo bumble bees
• Psithyrus

Usage Notes

The single word 'bumblebee' predominates in American usage, while 'bumble bee' (two words) is preferred by many entomologists and style guides for consistency with other bee names (honey bee, carpenter bee). The archaic 'humble-bee' appears in older literature, notably Darwin's work on pollination. Cuckoo bumble bees (formerly Psithyrus, now treated as subgenus or synonym within Bombus) are social parasites that lack a worker caste and usurp nests of other Bombus species. Bumble bees are distinguished from superficially similar carpenter bees (Xylocopa) by the presence of a corbicula and, in most species, a more rounded, fuzzy abdomen.