The half-black bumblebee (''Bombus vagans'') is a small bumblebee with a wide distribution in North America, its range extending from Ontario to Nova Scotia and southward to Georgia.

Description

''Bombus vagans'' is a common species of bumblebee with a medium-length tongue. The head, thorax and first two segments of the abdomen are yellow while the rest of the abdomen is black. The face has a mixture of yellow and black hairs and the thorax is densely clad in shaggy yellow hair except for a smooth central portion which is bare and shiny. The first two abdominal segments bear yellow hairs and the remainder of the abdomen is clad in black hairs. The underside of this bee and the legs are black. Similar species with which it can be confused include ''

Bombus sandersoni ''Bombus sandersoni'' is a species of bumblebee known commonly as the Sanderson bumblebee.Hatfield, R., et al. 2015''Bombus sandersoni''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 March 2016.NatureServe. 2015''Bombus sandersoni''.N ...

'' (which is slightly smaller), ''

Bombus perplexus ''Bombus perplexus'' is a species of bumblebee known by the common name confusing bumblebee.Hatfield, R., et al. 2014''Bombus perplexus''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 09 March 2016.NatureServe. 2015''Bombus perplexus''.N ...

'', ''Bombus impatiens'' and '' Bombus affinis''.

Behavior

This bee comes out from hibernation quite late in the year with the first queens being seen in early May in Maine, and workers being on the wing from June to August. but in more southerly locations it may be seen a month earlier than this. The queen favors apple and plum blossom while the workers appreciate

red clover ''Trifolium pratense'', the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia, and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalized in many other regions. Description Red clov ...

, ''

Penstemon ''Penstemon'' , the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 250 species of flowering plants native mostly to the Nearctic, but with a few species also found in the North American portion of the Neotropics. It is the largest genus of flowering ...

'', ''

Asclepias ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

'' (milkweed), ''

Cirsium ''Cirsium'' is a genus of perennial and biennial flowering plants in the Asteraceae, one of several genera known commonly as thistles. They are more precisely known as plume thistles. These differ from other thistle genera (''Carduus'', '' Sily ...

'' (thistle), ''

Eupatorium ''Eupatorium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, containing from 36 to 60 species depending on the classification system. Most are herbaceous perennials growing to tall. A few are shrubs. The genus is native to temperat ...

'' and ''

Spiraea ''Spiraea'' , sometimes spelled spirea in common names, and commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes, is a genus of about 80 to 100 species

'' (meadowsweet). Unlike most other species of bumblebee in the region, it forages in shady forest habitats. Drones are often to be seen late in the season on

aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

and

goldenrod Goldenrod is a common name for many species of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, commonly in reference to the genus '' Solidago''. Several genera, such as '' Euthamia'', were formerly included in a broader concept of the gen ...

. Nests are usually on the surface of the ground or in holes in the ground and at its peak, the colony may have about seventy workers. The nest is sometimes parasitized by the

cuckoo bumblebee Cuckoo bumblebees are members of the subgenus ''Psithyrus'' in the bumblebee genus ''Bumblebee, Bombus''. Until recently, the 28 species of ''Psithyrus'' were considered to constitute a separate genus. They are a specialized Social parasitism (b ...

'' Bombus citrinus''. The parasitic protozoon ''

Apicystis bombi ''Apicystis bombi'' is a species of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa. It infects bees, especially bumblebees. It is believed to have a cosmopolitan distribution in bumblebees and a sporadic occurrence in honey bees, and causes dise ...

'' sometimes parasitizes this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2795860 Bumblebees Insects described in 1854 Hymenoptera of North America Insects of the Arctic