Sonoran bumble bee
Bombus sonorus
Name means: “loud and buzzing”
The Sonoran bumble bee is a big, fluffy bee with deep golden yellow fur and a black band across its back. It makes a loud buzzing sound as it flies from flower to flower.
Lives in
From California to central Texas and south to southern Mexico
What does it eat?
It collects pollen and nectar from flowers like sunflowers, cotton and toadflax.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Sonoran bumble bee about 16 km/h (9.9 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It often makes its nest underground, in old tunnels dug by pocket gophers.
2
Its scientific name sonorus means loud and buzzing, which fits this noisy bee.
3
Its English name probably comes from a mix-up. People thought sonorus meant the Mexican state of Sonora.
4
Together with its closest cousin, it is listed as Vulnerable, which means it needs protecting.
you asked
Most asked questions about Sonoran bumble bee
?Where does the Sonoran bumble bee nest?
Usually underground, often in old pocket gopher burrows.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Bombus sonorus
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Apidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Apidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Bombus sonorus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by (c) Daniel McNair, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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