I am trying to finalize who these guy are. I'm thinking they one of these two:
- Common Eastern Bumble Bees (Bombus impatiens) http://bugguide.net/node/view/56797
- Eastern Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa virginica) http://bugguide.net/node/view/3509
Could someone help to carify? I'm unclear how they are different.
This is #1 of four images:
This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 9:35 AM
#2
#3
#4
On your pics I can see there is a brown strip of hair at the top of the abdomen, and looking at many pics of Xylocopa virginica they all look to have that.
http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/aol/image?query=Xylocopa%20virginica&invocationType=imageT
I'm not seeing the brown hairy strip on Bombus impatiens, but it does look to have a thicker strip of cream coloured hairs.
http://www.insectimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?SUB=13797
http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/aol/image?query=Bombus%20impatiens&invocationType=imageTab
It can get very technical, there are male and female diferences, but if you look long enough at as many pictures as you can find you start to notice small differences. There are also mimicks which are flies.
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/MES/notes/entnote10.html
I am leaning towards Xylocopa virginica, but that thick crop of creamy hairs makes me want to say the other!
Then again the pic of Bombus impatiens on this site looks to have a brownish strip of hairs.
http://207.5.17.151/biobest/en/producten/hommels/default.htm
You have to bear in mind that some of them might be wrong, the educational sites will most likely be more correct.
Some male/female differences, with more to ponder over. Could Bombus griseocollis be a contender?
http://www-u.life.uiuc.edu/~hhines/bee_photos/index.html
Click on the male Bombus griseocollis, don't know if this will help.
http://pick4.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?guide=Bombus
It is not completely clear, but if you compare the wing venation in your first picture with this Xylocopa virginica: http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/aol/imageDetails?invocationType=imageDetails&query=Xylocopa+virginica&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridanature.org%2Fphotos%2FXylocopa_virginica_1d_%26_Flaveria_linearis%2C_St._Marks%2C_20021019.jpg&site=&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridanature.org%2Fspecies.asp%3Fspecies%3DFlaveria_linearis&width=150&height=101&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AWKsR-q4pETn1QM%3Awww.floridanature.org%2Fphotos%2FXylocopa_virginica_1d_%2526_Flaveria_linearis%2C_St._Marks%2C_20021019.jpg&b=image%3Fquery%3DXylocopa%2520virginica%26invocationType%3DimageT
and with this Bombus impatiens: http://www.entomology.umn.edu/museum/links/coursefiles/JPEG%20images/Hymenoptera%20web%20jpeg/Bombus.jpg
I think it is fairly clear that yours is a Bumble-bee and not a Carpenter Bee, so I would plump for Bombus impatiens
Ken
Thanks wallaby1 & kennedyh. I've added it to the bug files.
I think I also have Carpenter Bees around since I found holes in the soffets today. I have a photo of one of them and can tell the difference.
Linda
I'm afraid I'm struggling to see where the wing venation can be seen sufficiently to know the difference. Then I'm not an expert on wing venations! I'm sure you know what you are looking at better than me kennedyh.
My last thoughts of Bombus griseocollis were based on the pictures on the Bumble Bees of Illinois website, the male compares very well to the pictures given by linda_nc, one is even on the same flower with a very similar angle. All the clours etc match up perfectly.
I have copied the pics from that site to post here, I put them side by side with the pics above and could see no difference, whereas with the two options given I could not quite match either up with any pics I found.
This pic compares with linda_nc's pic #2
This compares with #3
This compares with #4
I'm glad I'm not the only one who's confused between carpenter and bumblebees, lol. I think the carpenter bees have the dot of black on their backs and the bumblebees have stripes or bands. But, it doesn't seem to be as easy as that, lol. Only thing I know is... if it's really fat, it's a bumblebee. (I saw one ALMOST as big as a golf ball, once, lol. He flew slow, too, it was hilarious!)
~Kris
I have these, not the ones I said I had in another thread...the fat ones with the spot. They are out very early. The earliest. They are good pollinatiors. They have 2 sets of 2 wings, and, no brown that I could see. They are very curious and slow flying. Black and pale yellow with a spot.
That's bonbus, right? And that's good, right?
Suzy
