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Brown-belted bumble bee

Bombus griseocollis

Brown-belted bumble bee

Nesting Preference

Often nests at the ground surface in sheltered cover; underground nests are also reported.

Active Time of Year

Spring through summer and sometimes into fall. Regional records differ, so dates from eastern North America should not be treated as a fixed Oregon schedule.

Identifying Characteristics

Queens and workers have a black face, a yellow thorax with a small dark spot between the wings, and a yellow first abdominal segment. Workers often have a brown crescent on the second segment, but this area can be yellow in queens. The remaining abdomen is mostly black. The brown belt is useful when present, but it is not universal.

Fun Fact

In a laboratory study, young males helped warm pupae, the developing bees inside cocoons. They wrapped themselves around the cocoons and transferred body heat to them.

Brown-belted bumblebees occur across much of the United States, including western Oregon. OSU studies documented them in Willamette Valley blueberry and red clover fields. They visit many kinds of flowers in open habitats, including farmland, gardens, parks, and wetlands.

Sources and Further Reading

Read more on Wikipedia

Solitary wasp

A solitary wasp has no colony of workers helping raise her young. A female may stock her own nest cells with food, or find a host for her developing offspring. Solitary describes social life; parasitoid describes a feeding strategy. A wasp can be both.

Social wasp

Social wasps share a nest and cooperate in raising young. In yellowjacket and paper wasp colonies, reproductive females lay eggs and workers help feed the brood and maintain the nest. They can defend that nest, so observing a forager is different from approaching a colony.

Non-native Social wasp

This is a social wasp introduced beyond its natural range. In this case the European paper wasp was introduced to North America from Europe, probably hidden in shipping materials. Non-native describes its origin, while social describes colony life.