Bombus pomorum


The apple humble-bee or apple bumblebee is a species of bumblebee.

Description

This bumblebee is black with a red tail, an oblong head, and a long proboscis. The male has pale hairs on the collar, scutellum, and first tergite. The queen has a body length between, the worker around, and the male.

Distribution

The apple humble-bee is found in western and central Europe and western Turkey, from northern France to the Perm region in Russia, but it is declining and once had a much wider distribution. It has been found once in the United Kingdom, in Kent, but it is doubtful if it ever has been established there.

Ecology

This species is mainly found in wood-edges and open fields. The Turkish subspecies B. p. canus, however, lives on more or less alpine steppes at altitudes between.