Please could anyone help identify this bee? It was very large, has a "break" in the yellow band and the final segment seemed to be hairless. I wondered if it was some sort of cuckoo bee?
Alison
Identification help please
Re: Identification help please
Hi, I asked some of the RECORD staff and Chloe Aldridge thinks "I would think very worn buff tail maybe, difficult to tell, but it's lost a lot of its hair"
Re: Identification help please
Hello Rachel and Chloe
Thanks for your reply. I did contact Tony Parker as suggested by "anno" and he came back to me this afternoon to say he thought it was Bombus campestris which apparently often has the broken belt of hairs on the abdomen. I didn't know this and it seemed like an easy and distinctive way of identifying this bee so thought I'd pass it on. I have lots of Carder bees in the garden so it's bad news for them.
Thanks for your reply. I did contact Tony Parker as suggested by "anno" and he came back to me this afternoon to say he thought it was Bombus campestris which apparently often has the broken belt of hairs on the abdomen. I didn't know this and it seemed like an easy and distinctive way of identifying this bee so thought I'd pass it on. I have lots of Carder bees in the garden so it's bad news for them.
Re: Identification help please
Thanks - and noted!