Sitka bumblebee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sitka bumblebee |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Bombus
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| Species: |
sitkensis
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The Sitka bumblebee (Bombus sitkensis) is a type of bumblebee that lives in western North America. You can find it from Alaska all the way down to California. It's a common bee in these areas.
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What Does the Sitka Bumblebee Look Like?
The Sitka bumblebee has a head that is a bit longer than it is wide. It also has a special tongue, called a proboscis, which helps it drink nectar from flowers.
Female Bumblebees
Female Sitka bumblebees include both queens and workers. Their faces and the front part of their bodies (called the thorax) have a mix of black and yellow hairs. They also have a black spot in the middle of their thorax. The sides of their bodies are usually yellowish.
On their bellies, the first two sections (called terga) are yellow. The next two sections (terga 3 and 4) are black, but they have a yellow edge at the back. The very last two sections of their belly are a reddish-brown color.
Male Bumblebees
Male Sitka bumblebees look a bit different. Their faces and the front part of their bodies are yellow. Only the back parts of their bodies are darker, with a mix of black and yellow hairs.
On their bellies, the first two sections are yellow. Sections 3 to 5 are yellow at the front and black at the back. The very end of their tail (sections 6 and 7) is reddish-brown.
Where Do Sitka Bumblebees Live?
The Sitka bumblebee is a common type of bumblebee found in western North America. You can see them in places like Alaska and British Columbia, and also in Washington. They also live in northern Idaho, western Montana, and along the coast of California.
In some parks in California, the number of Sitka bumblebees has gone down a little. This is because they have to share nesting spots, like old rodent holes, with another type of bee called the yellow-faced bumblebee (B. vosnesenskii).
What Do Sitka Bumblebees Eat?
Sitka bumblebees get their food from many different kinds of flowering plants. They like plants from families such as the Ericaceae (like blueberries), Asteraceae (like daisies), Saxifragaceae (like saxifrages), and Rhamnaceae (like buckthorns). They collect nectar and pollen from these flowers.
Life Cycle of the Sitka Bumblebee
The queen Sitka bumblebee has a very long flight period. She can be seen flying from the end of January all the way to the beginning of December.
The first worker bees, who help the queen, start to appear in early March. The male bumblebees usually show up in early April. Both the workers and males are usually gone by the end of September.
