The last week has seen, at last, some bumblebee activity in the Central Belt! Cath Scott in Glasgow was first last Sunday, with Norman Storie finding 2 queen buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) nearby at crocuses the next day. Both Natasha and Chrissie from the BBCT office saw fly-by queens during the week and today, having seen honeybees active at winter heather on the campus on Wednesday, there were at least five bumblebee queens at lunchtime. One just flew by (the queens can really move around in spring), three were buff-tailed bumblebees, and the other a queen ‘cryptic bumblebee’ (Bombus cryptarum) – one of the three species that comprise the white-tailed bumblebee (‘Bombus lucorum’) complex. This was a very well-marked queen, with the black ‘S’ at each end of the yellow collar looking like it had been drawn in by a marker pen! Other individuals may not be very well marked at all though. It is quite possible there are other species to discover in this complex, so very confusing! At the moment, queens of this group are identified according to the collar pattern, but even this may not be reliable! Still, a beautiful wee beastie all the same – spring is here!! Also, a report from RSPB of a ‘white-tailed bumblebee’ on Colonsay. It is thought that the ‘cryptic’ is the earliest to emerge in spring of the white-tailed bumblebee complex, so quite likely that this island bumblebee was one of these.
