Short-haired bumblebee
Bombus subterraneus
Very short hair, 'bald patch' on thorax - looks like a buzz cut gone wrong!
Queen
Yellow collar
Yellow rear band
Pale abdomen bands
White tail sometimes with faint yellow trim
May
Worker
Yellow collar
Yellow rear band
Pale abdomen bands
White tail sometimes with faint yellow trim
May
Male
Yellow collar
Yellow rear band
Yellow mid band
Big, buff tail
June
- Reintroduction to the south of England in 2010’s seems not successful
- Long face is rounder than Garden and Ruderal bumblebees
- Often has two abdomen bands but this can be difficult to see
- Dark form has a buff tail
Short-haired bumblebee
Bombus subterraneus
Currently extinct in UK.
Liked legumes
- Bird’s-foot trefoil
- Bramble
- Comfrey
- Honeysuckle
- Red clover
- Teasel
- Vetches
- Viper’s bugloss
- White dead-nettles
Crocus
Lavendar
Thistle
Nest
- Underground; liked old rodent nests
- One cycle per year
- Though to have lasted 3-4 months
- Around 75-150 workers
Distribution
- Thought to be extinct in the UK
- Used to be a species of south-east England
- Occasionally seen further north and in Wales
- Found on wetlands and flowery, open meadows and grasslands