ICuckoo Bee > Bombus rupestris

Description: Bombus rupestris is one of the Cuckoo Bees, so called because of their habit of finding a nest of their host species and infiltrating it. Cuckoo Bees have no worker caste, only males (Drones) in late Summer/Autumn and females (Queens). Only the young Bombus rupestris Queens over-winter and emerge later than their hosts the following Spring, to take over a nest of Bombus lapidarius. The existing Bombus lapidarius Queen is usually killed and the Bombus rupestris Queen takes over the colony and produces her own eggs, which the B.lapidarius workers tend, till new males and females emerge during the Summer months. It is one of our largest bumble bees; the female is much larger than the male, having a length of 20 to 25 mm, while the drone usually is not more than 16 mm. The bumblebee is mostly black, with the last abdominal segments coloured orange-red. Due to its parasitic lifestyle no workers exist. Bombus rupestris is usually found in flower-rich habitats such as meadows and along hedgerows but also in urban gardens, where this photograph was taken. It was once considered to be somewhat of a rarity, but numbers seems to be on the rise in recent years. Return to Bees Index Return to Main Index bees, hives, honey, bees, hives, honey, bees, hives, honey,