Black-and-Gold Bumblebee

Media
Black-and-gold bumble bee visiting wild bergamot flowerhead
Scientific Name
Bombus auricomus
Family
Apidae (cuckoo, carpenter, digger, bumble, and honey bees) in the order Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps)
Description

The black-and-gold bumblebee is associated with prairies and other grasslands. Its color pattern is distinctive. A colony usually only comprises a queen and about 35 workers.

Like other species of bumblebees, they are large fuzzy or hairy bees. Bumblebees (genus Bombus) always have some fuzz on the abdomen. Females have pollen baskets on the last pair of legs.

At least six species of bumblebees occur in Missouri. Entomologists and dedicated amateurs use details of wing venation and other structural fine points to identify the different species in this genus.

Learn more about bumblebees and other apid bees (family Apidae) on their family page.

Other Common Names
Black and Gold Bumble Bee
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Similar Species
About Land Invertebrates in Missouri
Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.