Scottish holiday bees (1 Viewer)

[Farnboro John]

I'm just learning bees - bumblebees mainly, start with the big ones is sound practice in my view - and I'd like to check some tentative IDs from Scotland. I'm quite prepared to be wrong about all of them! All three species (I think three, anyway) were photographed around the car park at Ariundle NNR on the inner part of the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

First, what I think is a Common Carder Bee:







Then what I hope is a Gypsy Cuckoo Bee:





And I'll put the other one in a new post in the thread.

John

 

[Farnboro John]

Finally I can't see why this might not be a Northern White-tailed Bumblebee:





Thanks in advance!

Cheers

John

 

[aeshna5]

I would agree with the first two, but not sure why you think the third is a White-tailed-it doesn't even have a white rear-end? I would have said an Early Bumblebee?

 

[Farnboro John]

I would agree with the first two, but not sure why you think the third is a White-tailed-it doesn't even have a white rear-end? I would have said an Early Bumblebee?

I was kind of at a loss and I thought it did, though I did think not much of one. I didn't see a ginger/orange one, anyway - though now you mention it there is a tinge....

I'll go back through whatever unprocessed photos might show a different angle and come back with what I find, if anything.

Thank you very much for the other two, at my level of development I'd have to claim "Two out of three ain't bad"! So I'm not sad.

Cheers

John

 

[Farnboro John]

I'll happily grant you that one, at least two other photos show the back end is definitely coloured ginger/reddish. Thank you very much again!

Cheers

John

 

[Ficedula]

Would be great if you could include scientific names with such posts. I have no idea what Gypsy cuckoo be is.

 

[Farnboro John]

Would be great if you could include scientific names with such posts. I have no idea what Gypsy cuckoo be is.

That's a fair question, although a quick google of Gypsy Cuckoo Bee to test whether it's an easy thing to check produced masses of images and a Wikipedia entry complete with scientific name.

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

Gypsy Cuckoo Bee Bombus bohemicus

Early Bumblebee Bombus pratorum

(All copied from google searches)

Cheers

John