Bug Wiki
Sticker of Black-tailed bumblebee
Bug card No. 0142 of 1,500

Black-tailed bumblebee

Bombus melanopygus

The black-tailed bumblebee is a fuzzy bumblebee from western North America with a black tip on its tail. In the north, it has a bright reddish orange band on its tummy. In California many of them have a black band there instead.

Lives in
Western North America, from Alaska down to Baja California in Mexico
Top speed
about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite or sting
What does it eat?
It visits lots of different flowers for nectar and pollen, like lupines, clovers, sages, willows and rhododendrons.
For real!Photo of Black-tailed bumblebee
Picture by Eshlants. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The red and the dark bumblebees were once thought to be two different kinds, but tests showed they are the same.

2

People nicknamed the reddish ones red butts.

3

It is one of the few bumblebees you can still find regularly in the city of San Francisco.

4

It builds its nest under the ground or above ground in little spaces.

you asked

Most asked questions about Black-tailed bumblebee

?Where does the black-tailed bumblebee live?

In western North America, from Alaska to Mexico, including farms and cities.

?What does the black-tailed bumblebee eat?

Nectar and pollen from many flowers.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Bombus melanopygus
Group
Bees and bumblebees
Family
Apidae
Classification
Insecta > Hymenoptera > Apidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Black tail bumble bee, Orange-rumped bumblebee

Where the facts come from

  1. Bombus melanopygus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Eshlants. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Bees and bumblebees

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows