PERPLEXUS (Perplexing Bumble Bee)
Perplexing Bumble Bee (Bombus perplexus)
PERPLEXUS 3
Bombus perplexus (subg. Pyrobombus)
IDENTIFICATION: MODERATE
PREVALENCE: COMMON
With regular collection or photographing, you are likely to come across perplexus. In the collection by Harris et al. in prep, perplexus comprised 6% of the specimens.Perplexus should be a relatively simple bumble bee to identify. It has a characteristically almost entirely yellow thorax with minimal black hairs. In addition, it boasts a golden yellow colour, in which it shares with only borealis and terricola, which have different colour patterns all together. When photographing perplexus, most identifications are possible from just an overhead shot, however, it would be good practice to get photos of the side and top of head as well. Perplexus can be confused for bimaculatus, which is rare in the area, and some individuals may look like vagans, sandersoni, or the black variant of rufocinctus. Males are variable but very similar to females.
Sources and Credits
- (c) John Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/38875278@N08/3820958032/
- (c) Bill Greaves, all rights reserved, uploaded by Bill Greaves
- Adapted by Bill Greaves from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombus_perplexus
