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I'm posting two pictures which I first thought were of the same species of bumblebee: Bombus terrestris. But I doubt it now because the first (about 20mm) is much larger than the second (12-15mm). Am I right Christian?

Thanks,

Joaquim Gaspar
Lisboa

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here is the other one...

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this afternoon I saw many syrphids, one new for me (and awesome) and plenty Bombus spp.! They are everywhere.
No signal of Myopas.

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I think the climate changes are fooling Nature. Both plants and insects are convinced that spring has come!

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This winter I saw plenty of Coccinella septempunctata, I don't recall seeing so many at this time of the year.

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The flies are coming
Today I saw many flowers blooming.
I will try to go see "amendoeiras" in flower...

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I think the top one is B vestalis.

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Thank you, Susan, but are you sure? My book (Chinery) says that cucko bees generally resemble the species thay parasite and that B. vestalis parasites B. terrestris (till now everything matches). But also says that the coats are less dense so that abdominal plates shine through. Furthermore, there shouldn't a difference in size so large. I'm posting another view, maybe more details are visible.

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B vestalis queens can be very big, and very plush looking. It can also emerge quite early. Your specimen is clearly of a cuckoo species (no corbicula, darkened wings). The only thing that makes me doubt is the quantity of tawny hairs on the scutellum, but I don't know what else it could be (but bear in mind that you have lots of species that I have never seen too). I am assuming you took these photos in the last couple of days? But if not, that could give clues to the ID as well.

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The photos were taken a couple of days ago. Anyway, they are everywhere now. And also lots of B. terrestris , Xylocopa violacea and honey bees. I even saw Polistes wasps. Climate changes are fooling the poor things... With yellow hair on the sculetum, could it be instead a B. barbotellus (parasite of B. hortorum)?

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Photo two....corbicula present!!!!!!!!

I think vestalis for photo number One

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Yes, photo 2 is supposed to be a B. terrestris. The problem is with photos 2 an 3: B. vestalis or B. barbotellus?

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The size and clarity of the yellow flash on the side of the abdomen indicates vestalis rather than barbutellus, and barbutellus is generally more scruffy looking with sparser hair (in the way that Chinnery describes).

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I am not sure about the first species, but B. vestalis is probable. In any case, it is a former Psithyrus member. Second photo ist one of the terrestris/lucorum species.

Regards, Christian

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So B. vestalis be! Thanks to Susan, Christian and cthirion

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Dear Jaquim,
The main reson for the difference in size in bumle bees is that the queens, which emerge in spring are much larger than workers or males. In Portugal like New Zeland there can be more than one generation of species like Bombus terrestris. Queen bumble bees can wieigh up to a gram from memeory and to overwinter successfully they need about 20% of more of their body weight to be in fat, to ensure they can live through for the about 10 months needed to raise the next lot of new queens. The second photo with a slight yellow places ID in the terrestritirs group in slight doubt and the lower face is too much in the flower in both shots to judge if they have the sort malar space of B. terrestris etc. or the long tongued species, which for instance trend to favour foraging on deeper flowers like Labiatae and honey suckle or red clover.

I worked on bumble bees and their ecolgy in the 1970-1980's including determination of their commercial value for red clover pollination. The white colouring on the abdomen of your specimens distinguishes this species from the variety present in Great britain, New Zealand and tasmania as queens.

Rod Macfarlane

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Thank you for the information (and lesson...), Rod. The bumblebee in photo 2 , which is quite common here and I've always identified as a B. terrestris, has indeed a long tongue, as you can see in this new picture. Does it mean it is really a B. terrestris?

Joaquim

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Sorry, but I never heard that lenght of glossa (tongue) or of malar space is a distinction character within the Bombus terrestris/lucorum group. As far as I know, queens (ony) can be recognized by some details in color pattern and by puncture of head and last tergum. Workers are not distinghuishable, and males are nearly impossible to distinghuish. B. terrestris is a more or less dark species, whereas the others are lighter. But I am not able (or never tried it seriouly) to identify the four species in this group. My knowledge comes from a scientific presentation last year, and there are some recent examinations and publications about the terrestris/lucorum group.

Separation to former Psithyrus species works by less dense hairiness, lack of collecting facilities on hindlegs and other characters in (former) Psithyrus.

Regards, Christian

Regards, Christian