Subject: bee
Location: Colorado front range
July 12, 2014 3:22 pm
I have seen the attached orange body bee twice now at elevations above 9000 feet in Colorado. Can you identify it for me?
Thanks/Fred
Signature: Fred Foto
Dear Fred,
There are several species of Bumble Bees with red stripes on the abdomen, and we believe your individual is a Hunt’s Bumble Bee, Bombus huntii, a species that BugGuide reports at high elevations. The Yellow Fronted Bumble Bee, Bombus flavifrons, which is pictured on BugGuide, is also a high elevation species and like your individual, it appears considerably furrier than the Hunt’s Bumble Bee. Our money is on Hunt’s Bumble Bee.
Thanks very much. I take a lot of flower pictures, and often see a pollinators on flowers.
Let me know if I can help support your site.
Fred Fisher