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Nevada bumble bee

Bombus nevadensis

Nevada bumble bee

Nesting Preference

Usually nests underground, with some nests recorded at the ground surface.

Active Time of Year

Spring through summer, with timing varying by location and elevation. It has been recorded during both spring blueberry bloom and summer red clover bloom in the Willamette Valley.

Identifying Characteristics

A large bumblebee with a long face. Queens and workers have mostly black facial hair, a largely yellow thorax, and yellow on the second and third abdominal segments, followed by a black tail. The first abdominal segment can be yellow or black. Size and color alone do not establish an identification.

Fun Fact

Its name does not limit it to Nevada: this species occurs across a broad area from the Pacific coast east to the Great Plains.

Nevada bumblebees visit many kinds of flowers in open grasslands and meadows. They are long-tongued bees, with recorded visits to plants including penstemons, clovers, and blueberries. Oregon Department of Agriculture guidance includes this species among the bumblebees of the Willamette Valley.

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.