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Hi David: Thanks for the i.d. and the additional tips. Obviously I need better photos. As for Bombus impatiens there was one species that was quite common a few days ago and may be this species. Here is one photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58321572@N00/262568575/ However I thought there was one similar one that did not have the lightish abdominal banding but likely there is variation in that aspect as some I saw had even more distinct banding. Cheers, Angus At 11:38 AM 10/6/2006, you wrote: >On 10/5/06 3:20 PM, "Angus MacLean" <angusmcl@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > > > Yesterday I spent some time in Palmeter Woods (West Kentville). > > One of the Bees had an orange band across the abdomen. This is not one of > > the (14) Bombus species found in NS and I don't know which genera it > > belongs to. I could not get a good photo yesterday (continually moving) but > > I found one that I photographed on August 17 which is here: > > > > http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=261608676&size=m > > > > Sorry for the quality. Can anyone offer a lead? > > Angus > > >Angus: > >There are two species of bumble bees in NS that have reddish abdomens. The >most common. To my eye the one you have photographed is _Bombus ternarius_. >The feature I use to clinch the identification is the pattern of black on >the thorax. It has an arrow that points back between the wings. The top >view photos at >http://pick4.pick.uga.edu/mp/20q?search=Bombus+ternarius&guide=Bumblebees >show this. However that is difficult to see in this photograph. > >The other reddish species, _Bombus rufocinctus_ has a black middle of the >thorax, but lacks the backwards pointing arrow. > >The best source for identification is Laverty and Harder. 1988. The bumble >bees of eastern Canada. Canadian Entomologist 120: 965-987. It has a good >series of line drawings showing colours on workers, queens and males. For >most species this works for identification, and those that it does not work >for are pointed out. > >Since records were compiled for this in the mid-1980s, there has been a >large increase in populations of _Bombus impatiens_ in NS. In the early >1990s I did not find them on Cape Breton at all. This fall, they are the >most common species I have seen, from Bon Portage to Georges River in Cape >Breton. > > >David McCorquodale > > >David McCorquodale >Department of Biology >Cape Breton University >Box 5300, 1250 Grand Lake Rd., Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, CANADA >902-563-1260 david_mccorquodale@capebretonu.ca FAX: 902-563-1880
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