Mystery bee!

Nicky Redpath sent in this intriguing photo, of a bumblebee she found with Mike Peacock of RSPB on Oronsay, off the west coast.  This is a male, with long antennae (can almost see all 13 segments!).  As it is a male, it has no sting, so there is no problem at all resting it on her hand!  There is a superficial similarity with Great Yellow Bumblebee, but no hint of a 'pollen basket' on the largest segment of the hind leg, so this is a cuckoo bumblebee.  In fact, this is an unusual species for the west of Scotland, a Field Cuckoo Bumblebee Bombus campestris, typically associated with nests of the Common Carder Bee B. pascuorum.  Not only that, it is of the form 'swynnertoni' that I think is described only from Scotland.  On closer inspection, the yellow fur lacks the richer tones of Great Yellow, and it is rather thinly distributed and uneven, giving a 'straggly' look.  Where Great Yellow Bumblebee would have a band of black fur between the wings, this has black is mixed in with yellow hairs, so lacks a discrete band.  It is also rather short in the abdomen, giving a compact appearance not seen with male Great Yellow Bumblebee (though male bees have an extra segment here too!).

 

An excellent record nonetheless.  There are very few records for Scotland, most of which are from the east.  A few reported this year have including one at a Scotia Seeds Open Day in Angus, one on the Stirling University campus (unusually visiting a nest of White-tailed Bumblebee) and photos of good-looking candidates at the BBCT/RSPB Bumblebee Meadow at RSPB Vane Farm, and in an Edinburgh garden.