Insects › Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies

American Bumble Bee

Bombus pensylvanicus

Easily confused with

Study checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.

Where it is recorded

Records by month in Texas.January 2,338, February 2,237, March 2,541, April 4,821, May 2,954, June 1,606, July 2,932, August 3,978, September 4,131, October 3,898, November 2,194, December 2,126.
United States61,178
Texas27,148
Canada4,118
Ontario4,044
Oklahoma2,799
New Mexico2,564
North Carolina2,538
Michigan2,300
Louisiana2,126
Missouri1,962

Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.

Traits

Behavioral

  • EusocialLives in colonies with division of labor and cooperative brood careFrom its classification

Physical

  • ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification

Practical

  • StingingCan deliver a painful stingFrom its classification

Group and habits

  • Animal pollinatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly pollinate flowers.Inferred from its group

Classification

KingdomAnimals · Animalia
PhylumArthropods · Arthropoda
ClassInsects · Insecta
OrderAnts, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies · Hymenoptera
FamilyHoney Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies · Apidae
GenusBumble Bees · Bombus

Sources

Remember the name next time.

Practise American Bumble Bee with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.