Bombus pomorum

The apple humble-bee or apple bumblebee (Bombus pomorum) is a species of bumblebee.^[1]

Bombus pomorum
Bombus pomorum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Apidae
Genus:	Bombus
Subgenus:	Thoracobombus
Species:	B. pomorum
Binomial name
Bombus pomorum (Panzer, 1805)[1]

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 (abdominal segment).^[2] The queen has a body length between 20 and 22 mm (0.79 and 0.87 in), the worker around 14 mm (0.55 in), and the male 15 mm (0.59 in).^[3]

Distribution

The apple humble-bee is found in western and central Europe and western Turkey, from northern France to the Perm region in Russia. Its reach is declining and once had a much wider distribution.^[4] It was once present in the United Kingdom and was found once in Kent recently, but it is doubtful it is still established there.^[2]

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 1,600 and 3,500 m (5,200 and 11,500 ft).^[5]